North Korean
leader Kim Jong-un’s sister on Friday said that if some conditions are met, the
country is ready to resume talks with neighbours South Korea. This may be an
indication that North Korea will push Seoul to convince the United States to
relax their economic sanctions, according to the Associated Press.

The
statement from Kim Yo-ong comes days after the country tested its first
missiles in six months, which experts said was a hint from Pyongyang that it
will keep adding to its arsenal as long as Washington’s sanctions are not
lifted while nuclear diplomacy makes little progress.

She
mentioned the talks while talking about the call from South Korean President
Moon Jae-in, issued in a speech at the UN General Assembly for a political
declaration to end the 1950-53 Korean War in order to bring peace.

“Smiling a
forced smile, reading the declaration of the termination of the war, and having
photos taken could be essential for somebody, but I think that they would hold
no water and would change nothing, given the existing inequality, serious
contradiction therefrom and hostilities,” a statement from Kim Yo-jong read.

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She further
stated that North Korea could resume “constructive” talks with their neighbours
and discuss how to improve and repair strained ties if the South stop provoking
the North with “hostile policies”, “far-fetched assertions” and “double-dealing
standards”.

Meanwhile,
the South Korean Unification Ministry said it was carefully reviewing the
statement, with an official statement saying they will continue efforts to
restore ties.

Nam
Sung-wook, a professor at Korea University in South Korea, said North Korea was
putting indirect pressure on Seoul to work to arrange talks easing the
sanctions as it pushes for the war’s end declaration.

“It’s like
North Korea saying it would welcome talks on the end-of-the war declaration if lifting
the sanctions can also be discussed,” Nam said.

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The
U.S.-led sanctions have been toughened following the North’s provocative run of
nuclear and missile tests in 2016-17, and Kim Jong Un has said the sanctions,
the coronavirus pandemic and natural disasters were causing the “worst-ever”
crisis in North Korea.

North Korea
and the United States are still technically at war because the Korean War ended
with an armistice, not a peace treaty. North Korea has consistently wanted to
sign a peace treaty with the United States to formally end the war and for
subsequent improved relations. Some experts say the peace treaty could allow
North Korea to demand the United States to withdraw its 28,500 troops in South
Korea and ease sanctions.

Both Koreas
had called for an end-of-war declaration to be made and a peace treaty to be
signed during the period of diplomacy with the United States that began in
2018, and there was speculation then-President Donald Trump might announce the
war’s end in early 2019 to convince Kim Jong Un to commit to denuclearization.

No such
announcement was made as the diplomacy faded to a stalemate after Trump
rejected Kim Jong Un’s calls for lifting the newer, toughened sanctions in
return for a limited denuclearization step. Some experts say North Korea won’t
find a reason to denuclearize after having those sanctions withdrawn.

Kim Yo
Jong’s offer for talks was a stark contrast to a blunt statement by a senior
North Korean diplomat issued earlier Friday that the end-of-war declaration could
be a “smokescreen” covering up hostile U.S. policies — usually a reference
to the sanctions as well as the U.S. military presence in the South.

Experts say
the earlier statement targets the U.S. while the later one by Kim Yo Jong, who
is in charge of Pyongyang’s relations with Seoul, focuses more on South Korea.
They say both statements want Seoul and Washington to act first and drop
sanctions if they want to see the resumption of the nuclear diplomacy.

Last week,
North Korea conducted its first cruise and ballistic missile tests since March,
demonstrating its ability to launch attacks on South Korea and Japan, two key
U.S. allies where a total of 80,000 American soldiers are stationed. But North
Korea still maintains its moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests
directly targeting the American homeland, a sign that it wants to keep chances
for future diplomacy with Washington alive.

“North
Korea would think it doesn’t cross a (red line) set by the U.S. … so it says
it can come to talks if conditions are rife” for sanctions relief, said Seo
Yu-Seok at the Seoul-based Institute of North Korean Studies.

Nam said
North Korea is expected to carry out more powerful weapons tests if the U.S.
and South Korea don’t accept its demand for sanctions relief.

With inputs from the Associated Press