Pyongyang seeks peace treaty to normalise ties with US, UN

United Nations, Oct 2: Pyongyang seeks a peace treaty with the US to end the 1950-1953 Korean War and "address the abnormal relations between North Korea and the UN", North Korea has said in the UN General Assembly's debate.

"If the US makes policy change with courage, a dramatic improvement will be affected in the security environment on the Korean peninsula and will eventually lead to addressing security concerns of the US," Xinhua news agency quoted North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong as saying on Thursday.

He made the statement in an apparent reference to Pyonyang's nuclear threat. "This is the best option we can afford," Yong said.

"Pyongyang is strongly convinced that the urgent replacement of the armistice agreement with a peace treaty is a way to ensure peace and security on the Korean peninsula and address the abnormal relations between North Korea and the UN," he said.

The "abnormal relations" he referred to has to do with the US forces in South Korea technically part of a UN Command.

The 1950-1953 Korean War was silenced not by a peace treaty but a cease-fire and Washington has long insisted the only way it will negotiate with Pyongyang is through the Six Party Talks, involving representatives from China, North Korea, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the US.

"Late last August the situation on the Korean peninsula once again headed to the brink of war," Ri said, referring to tensions heightened during annual joint military exercises held by South Korean and US militaries.

"What measures can the UN take when it commands the large-scale exercises that create a vicious cycle of heightened tensions," Ri asked, adding the US as a permanent member of the Security Council holds veto power.