朝鲜呼吁签订和平条约，正式结束韩战。与此同时，朝鲜高级外交官访问美国，讨论恢复有关朝鲜核项目的六方会谈问题。朝鲜官方的朝中社说，签订和平条约将有助于解决围绕朝鲜核项目的僵局以及缓解朝鲜半岛的紧张局势。这篇报导发表于星期三，这一天是韩战1953年停火58周年。与此同时，朝鲜第一副外长、前核谈判首席代表金桂冠目前在纽约，和美国官员就陷入僵局的核裁军谈判的前景举行会谈。金桂冠星期二抵达纽约时说，他对朝鲜和美国的关系将会改善持乐观态度，并表示“现在是所有国家和解的时候了”。
美国国务卿希拉里·克林顿上星期宣布金桂冠到访一事时并未表现出同样的热情。她说，华盛顿没有兴趣与朝鲜进行只会使双方回到起点的长时间谈判。美国、俄罗斯、中国、日本和韩国八年来一直在和贫困的朝鲜谈判，促使它放弃核武器项目，以换取食品、能源和援助。平壤当局几度放弃谈判，最近一次是在2009年，朝鲜在那一年进行了第二次核试验。
North Korea is calling for a peace treaty officially ending the Korean War, as one of its senior diplomats visits the U.S. to discuss efforts to restart six-nation talks on Pyongyang’s nuclear program.The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said a peace agreement could help resolve the deadlock over its nuclear ambitions and ease tensions on the Korean peninsula. The report was issued Wednesday — the 58th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953.Meanwhile, North Korea’s first vice minister ((for foreign affairs)) and former chief nuclear negotiator is in New York for talks with officials on the future of stalled disarmament talks.Kim Kye Gwan told reporters on his arrival Tuesday that he is optimistic that North Korean ties with the United States will improve, adding that “now is the time for all countries to reconcile.”
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was less enthusiastic when she announced Kim’s visit last week. She said Washington has no appetite for lengthy negotiations with North Korea that would only lead back to the starting point. The United States, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea have been negotiating with impoverished North Korea for eight years to get it to give up its nuclear arms programs in exchange for food, energy and aid. Pyongyang has abandoned these talks several times, most recently in 2009 when it conducted its second nuclear test.