SEOUL, April 18 (UPI) -- Conditions outlined by North Korea for negotiations with South Korea and the United States are "illogical," a South Korean spokesman said Thursday.
North Korea called on the United States and North Korea to end "provocative" measures as a precondition to restoring talks aimed at defusing the crisis on the Korean Peninsula.
Pyongyang's defense commission said both countries need to apologize and pull any nuclear weapons from the region, China's official Xinhua news agency reports.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during weekend talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that all parties to the crisis should "be ready to bear the consequence to safeguard the regional peace and stability."
Regional tensions are high in the wake of North Korea's third underground nuclear test in February. The North Korean government has ramped up war rhetoric, through there are few signs that a military confrontation is imminent.
South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Tai-young suggest North Korea's demands were out of line.
"North Korea's demands are hard to understand," he was quoted by Xinhua as saying. "I think they are illogical."
Deputy White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Thursday that Washington is open to "authentic" negotiations.
"In order for those talks to make progress and to be fruitful, it's going to require the North Koreans to demonstrate some seriousness about living up to their obligations and keeping those commitments," he said onboard Air Force One.
