Bush regime mulls peace treaty with North Korea to replace 1953 armistice

Washington - President George W Bush is considering a new plan drawn up by his advisors to alter the strategy for addressing North Korea's nuclear programme, the New York Times reported Thursday.

The new approach would open discussions with North Korea about a formal peace treaty to replace the 1953 armistice ending the Korean War. Pyongyang has long demanded a peace treaty, but negotiations on that would not begin unless North Korea returned to six-nation talks aimed at ending the stalemate.

North Korea has refused to rejoin the nuclear talks since last summer that include China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States.

The newspaper reported one reason for a change in the Bush administration approach was the ongoing dispute over Iran's nuclear ambitions.

'There is a sense that they can't leave Korea out there as a modal for what the Iranians hope to become - a nuclear state that can say no to outside pressure,' a senior Asian official who has been briefed on the new approach told the New York Times.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/northamerica/article_1164962.php/Bush_weighing_new_approach_on_North_Korea_report