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| The Unification Flag on the wall of the famous Okryugwan restaurant in Pyongyang. Korea Times file |
North Korea's official newspaper called for efforts to turn the Korean Peninsula into a "peace zone" free of war threats on Thursday as the communist nation prepares to hold a second summit with the United States.
"Turning the Korean Peninsula into a zone for solid peace is the basic way to open the heyday of peace, prosperity and reunification," the Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the North's ruling party, said in a commentary.
"Only when we make the peninsula into a zone for lasting and solid peace will our people be able to enjoy a peaceful and stable life and build prosperity for future generations as well."
The paper urged South Korea to stop conducting joint military drills with outside forces and deploying foreign war-related equipment on the Korean Peninsula, reiterating an argument that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made during his New Year's Day speech.
The demand comes as the North and the U.S. are expected to hold high-level talks in Washington later this week, apparently to discuss details such as the agenda, venue and date for a second summit between leader Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump.
During their first summit in June, Kim agreed to work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for security guarantees from Washington.
Progress has been slow for months as Pyongyang wants sanctions relief in return for the steps it has taken since June, such as dismantling a major nuclear and missile test site, but Washington demands more concrete measures.
In his Jan. 1 speech, Kim demanded a complete end to joint military exercises between South Korea and the U.S. and that no foreign strategic assets to be brought to the Korean Peninsula. He also called for multilateral talks to convert the Korean War armistice into a peace treaty.
In their first summit in April, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim agreed to declare a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War by the end of 2018 and to actively push for multiparty talks involving the two Koreas, the U.S. and possibly China to establish a lasting and solid peace regime on the peninsula.(Yonhap)
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