SEOUL, June 20 (UPI) -- North Korea must demonstrate some sincerity before stalled nuclear negotiations can resume, a South Korean foreign ministry spokesman said Thursday.
Spokesman Cho Tai-young said South Korea would raise the bar on conditions and said Pyongyang will have to pledge more than it did in a failed aid-for-disarmament deal with the United States in 2012.
In February 2012 North Korea and the United States announced an agreement in which North Korea would give up nuclear ambitions and halt long-range missile tests in exchange for 240,000 tons of food. The deal fell apart after North Korea tested a long-range rocket, casting doubt on its seriousness in negotiating with Seoul or Washington, the South Korean Yonhap News Agency said.
"For meaningful talks with North Korea to be convened, the North must show its sincerity through actions, not words. The Feb. 29 agreement explicitly shows what actions North Korea should take," Cho said, a reference to the scuttled deal with the United States.
