U.S. urges N. Korea to return to 6-way talks to discuss peace regime: White House

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Jan. 11 (Yonhap) -- The United States Monday urged North Korea to
return to the six-party talks in order to discuss the establishment of a peace
regime to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War.

"The North Koreans are well aware of what they need to do, to come back to
six-party talks, in dealing with this issue," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs
said. "And that is, give up the idea of a nuclear state on the peninsula, just as
it agreed to do several years ago. If they're willing to live up to those
obligations, then we will make progress in those talks."
Gibbs was responding to North Korea's statement earlier in the day calling for a
peace treaty on the Korean Peninsula and the removal of U.N. sanctions before it
returns to the six-party nuclear talks. Pyongyang has boycotted the negotiations
due to international sanctions imposed after its nuclear and missile tests early
last year.
"But this isn't a step for us to take," Gibbs said. "This is a step for the North
Koreans to take in living up to those obligations."
At issue is which comes first, denuclearization or a peace regime.
The six-party nuclear deal signed in 2005 calls for the North's nuclear
dismantlement in return for massive economic aid, diplomatic recognition and
establishment of a peace regime in Northeast Asia in lieu of the armistice that
left the Korean Peninsula technically still a war.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)

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