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Writer's pictureOmoruyi Enoma

North Korea willing to stop conflict if criteria are satisfied: Kim Yo-Jong


North Korea willing to stop conflict if criteria are satisfied:Kim Yo-Jong
KIM YO-JONG

Kim Yo-Jong has stated that they are open to resuming negotiations with the South if it quits its "hostile policies."

Kim Yo-jong was reacting to a renewed push from the South to terminate the Korean War officially.

The conflict that split the peninsula in two ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty in 1953

Since the two countries have been formally at war and have had a strained relationship.

Moon Jae-in, the president of South Korea, called on the two Koreas and their allies - the United States, which backs the South, and China, which is the North's largest trading partner - to proclaim a formal end to the hostilities and bring peace to the peninsula this week.

A top North Korean ministry first denounced the concept as "premature."

Ms Kim, on the other hand, thought the proposal was "admirable" in an unexpected comment broadcast through official media on Friday.

She did add, though, that the North would only examine the suggestion if the South ceased engaging in "hostile policies" toward them.

"What needs to go are the double-dealing attitudes, irrational prejudice, poor habits, and antagonistic posture of justifying their own actions while criticizing our just exercise of the right to self-defence," she said in a statement.

"Only once such a requirement has been met will it be possible to sit face to face and declare the significant end of the conflict."

I recall saying on the day Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in first met that hope can be a difficult thing to manage in inter-Korean relations.

For over 5 years, this administration in Seoul had hoped to bring an end to more than the 70-year war on the Korean peninsula.

President Moon, on the other hand, is running out of time. In March, his successor will be chosen.

He took a chance by meeting Kim Jong-un and shaking his hand on Mount Paektu's hallowed top. However, ties between the two Koreas have deteriorated since then.

North Korea even detonated a bomb in an office designed specifically to host negotiations between the two countries. It seems that all hope for peace talks had vanished.

But now, in the form of a statement from Kim Yo-jong, another shard of hope has broken through.

Take note of all the limitations and prerequisites. There are numerous "ifs" and "buts" in that paragraph.

So, is she serious? Kim Yo-jong doesn't mince his words. She is, however, returning everything to Seoul.

"Talks will only begin if you act in a manner we feel worthy," it could as well say

Who knows when that will happen.

South Korea successfully tested its first submarine-launched ballistic missile earlier this month, just hours after the North conducted its own test.

North Korea has frequently chastised South Korea's yearly military exercises with the United States.

Since the collapse of denuclearisation discussions between Mr Kim and US President Donald Trump in 2019, relations between the two countries have not improved significantly.

Mr Moon, who has made diplomacy with the North a priority throughout his presidency, has previously claimed that a declaration of war's end would persuade the North to denuclearize.

In reply, North Korea has demanded that punishing economic restrictions be withdrawn first.

However, the United States has frequently stated that any restrictions against North Korea must first be withdrawn before any penalties are lifted.

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