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Summary
North Korea called for an end to hostile ties with the United States and an atomic-free peninsula in a New Year message on Friday that comes weeks after it indicated it could end its year-long boycott of nuclear disarmament talks.Also on Friday, North Korea pledged to continue to move forward towards what it called independent reunification with the South.In a news bulletin on the state broadcaster KRT, the newsreader said: There are aggravating confrontations and tensions against the June Declaration, but our will to move towards independent reunification and national prosperity cannot be broken. In June 2000, the leaders of the North and South met to discuss ways of putting steps towards reunification into action. This historic meeting saw the adoption of the June 15th North-South Joint Declaration.The two Koreas are still technically at war because neither signed a formal peace treaty to end the 1950-53 Korean War and in recent years have gone back and forth on the idea of reuniting. KRT went on to report North Korea's apparent softening of its stance on relations with the United States and on nuclear disarmament talks.North Korea has made similar pledges before and analysts have cautioned it may call for separate discussions on formally establishing diplomatic ties with the United States before it agrees to resume the six-country nuclear talks.The fundamental task for ensuring peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in the rest of Asia is to put an end to the hostile relationship between the DPRK (North Korea) and the USA, KRT said, in a report of a joint newspaper editorial on North Korea's foreign policy stance.It added: It is the consistent stand of the DPRK to establish a lasting peace system on the Korean peninsula and make it nuclear-free through dialogue and negotiations. US President Barack Obama wrote a personal letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il this month to try to persuade Pyongyang to return to nuclear disarmament talks. It was delivered by the first official envoy his administration has sent to Pyongyang.The North responded to the visit by indicating it could return to the dormant, six-way nuclear discussions with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States. Destitute and isolated North Korea a year ago stepped away from a deal in those talks to halt its nuclear programme in exchange for massive aid and an end to its international ostracism.It was hit with fresh UN sanctions for a nuclear test it conducted in May. These delivered a heavy blow to its already staggering economy, which may put pressure on it to make concessions, analysts have said. The United States and others want North Korea at least to return to an agreement it walked away from to take apart its ageing Yongbyon nuclear plant, which makes plutonium for weapons, and let international inspectors back into the country.
