DPRK FM SPOKESMAN URGES U.S. TO RESPOND TO ITS PROPOSAL FOR SIGNING PEACE TREATY

Pyongyang, October 7 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of the DPRK released the following statement on Wednesday:

Consistent is the stand of the DPRK to remove the danger of a war, defuse tension and create a peaceful environment on the Korean Peninsula.

Out of its desire to put the earliest possible end to the fragile state of ceasefire that has persisted on the peninsula and build lasting peace-keeping mechanism, the DPRK re-clarified its stand to replace the Armistice Agreement by a peace treaty at the 70th UN General Assembly. More than 60 years have passed since the conclusion of the AA but durable peace has not yet settled on the peninsula.

The U.S. and south Korea have staged ceaseless military exercises, big or small, under various codenames in and around the peninsula, increasing the danger of an unpredictable situation to be created by an accidental case.

The lesson taught by the August incident in which the situation reached the brink of a war in a moment due to a minor incident for unknown reason proves that it would be impossible to preserve peace on the Korean Peninsula any longer with the present AA that exists in its name only. The evil cycle of escalation of tension will repeat itself and the situation leading to the brink of a war will be unavoidable as long as the state of armistice persists on the peninsula.

No one can vouch that an all-out war would not break out on the peninsula and in that case that will quickly spill over into a world war.

A fundamental way of putting this serious situation under control is for the DPRK and the U.S. to scrap the outdated AA and sign a new peace treaty as early as possible to build durable peace-keeping mechanism on the peninsula. Since the conclusion of the AA we have made fair and aboveboard and realistic proposals and initiatives to replace the AA by a peace treaty and have made strenuous and sincere efforts to put them into practice.

The U.S. has to part with its anachronistic policy aimed to keep the armistice system and respond to the DPRK's just proposal for signing a peace treaty.

 In fact, it is the U.S. which holds OPECON of the south Korean army and it is also the U.S. which manages the AA. If the U.S. boldly makes a policy switchover, we have the willingness to respond to constructive dialogue and then security environment on the peninsula will witness dramatic improvement and this will help the U.S. clear its security concerns.

We have already sent through an official channel a message urging the U.S. side to respond to the proposal for signing a peace treaty with sincerity. We hope that the U.S. will prudently study our proposal for the peace treaty and affirmatively respond to it.