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North Korea suspends nuclear tests if US cancels maneuvers with South

Press TV – January 10, 2015

North Korea says it is ready to suspend its future nuclear tests if the United States calls off its annual joint military drills with South Korea this year.

Pyongyang has called on Washington to contribute to easing tension on the Korean peninsula by scrapping all of this year’s joint military exercises in South Korea “and its vicinity,” North Korea’s KCNA news agency reported on Saturday.

The news agency said the message had been passed to US authorities through “a relevant channel” on Friday.

Pyongyang “is ready to take such a responsive step as temporarily suspending the nuclear test over which the US is concerned,” KCNA said.

North Korea conducted a series of rocket and missile tests last year in response to large-scale military drills South Korean and US forces conduct every year. Pyongyang has repeatedly renounced the exercises as “rehearsals for invasion.”

Last week, South Korea’s Defense Ministry claimed that Pyongyang had probably achieved a “significant” level of technology to miniaturize a nuclear warhead for mounting on a ballistic missile.

Earlier in 2013, North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, said, “Our nuclear strength is a reliable war deterrent and a guarantee to protect our sovereignty.”

North and South Korea remain technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace deal.

January 10, 2015 - Posted by | Militarism | ,

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