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North Korea's state-run media insisted Thursday that officially ending the 1950-53 Korean War is the "first process" if the peninsula is going to achieve peace.
The North's Rodong Sinmun newspaper described the need for a formal peace treaty as "the demand of our time" while also lamenting the "abnormal" lack of trust between Washington and Pyongyang.
The United States has repeatedly made clear its view that the Korean War should only be closed once North Korea denuclearizes, although the latter sees an official state of peace as a security guarantee from Washington.
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho held talks with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif Tuesday as Tehran rejoined Pyongyang in being forced to operate under American sanctions.The two leading diplomats agreed to a "further expansion of ties," according to Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency.Without providing specific details, the state-run media outlet also stated that they "discussed the latest regional and international developments as well as issues of mutual interest".It is understood to be the first time a senior North Korean official has visited Iran since leader Kim Jong-un held an unprecedented summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in June.Ri was critical of the U.S. last weekend at the ASEAN Regional Forum, where he accused Washington of being too focused on maintaining sanctions when Pyongyang has been taking peaceful measures agreed during the Kim-Trump meeting.Washington has made clear that North Korea can enjoy prosperity through global investment -- if it denuclearizes.While Trump has also offered dialogue to Tehran, the American leader posted on Twitter Tuesday that the latest punitive action against Iran forms "the most biting sanctions ever imposed".He additionally warned that "anyone doing business with Iran will NOT be doing business with the United States".
North Korea's top envoy visits Iran
To further complicate the standoff, South Korea already agreed with the North that they will seek to end the war by the end of this year following decades of tensions since an armistice was signed by American, North Korean and Chinese officials in 1953.
South Korean lawmaker Yoo Ki-june on Tuesday called on the government to take action against a ship suspected of violating United Nations sanctions by transporting coal from North Korea.The Belize-flagged vessel is apparently at a South Korean port but is scheduled to leave on Wednesday night.It is claimed the ship arrived in Pohang from Nakhodka in Russia on Saturday along with 5,100 tons of North Korean coal, which would be banned under a UN resolution passed last year in response to Pyongyang's repeated nuclear provocations.Yoo, a conservative politician, said the South's liberal government "should immediately implement necessary steps under the U.N. sanctions," according to local news agency Yonhap.North Korea releases South Korean man detained in JulyHe added that the vessel in question has been to South Korea 20 times since last October.Following criticism that Seoul might have been turning a blind eye in order to gain political capital with Pyongyang, an official from Seoul's Foreign Ministry revealed this week that nine possible North Korean coal shipments are already being investigated.The South is obligated to seize and probe any vessel suspected of violating sanctions, while the United States has made it clear it will take a dim view of any nation enabling North Korea to get around denuclearization efforts.However, Seoul later insisted that the latest Pohang shipment under scrutiny was just Russian coal."There has been no confirmation of a violation of the (UN) Security Council resolution in an inspection of the ship by related authorities," Foreign Ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-duk said at a news conference.
South Korean lawmaker raises alarm on North’s coal
Seoul's presidential office added further pressure Monday when spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told reporters that South Korea is asking the North to "speed up its denuclearization process" and the U.S. to "show sincere efforts about corresponding measures that North Korea is demanding".
Pyongyang has accused Washington of being too focused on sanctions and making "gangster-like demands" since the unprecedented summit between Chairman Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump on June 12.