The United States has reaffirmed its position that North Korea’s denuclearization has to come before a peace regime can be established, while Pyongyang is calling for a swift declaration to officially end the Korean War.

In a written interview with Seoul-based Yonhap News on Friday, Katina Adams, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said the U.S. is focused on establishing a peace regime when North Korea denuclearizes.

She said that is when the Korean War armistice can be replaced by a peace agreement.

North Korea earlier expressed regret over the attitude of the U.S. during high-level talks held with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Pyongyang last week.

The North’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the North proposed declaring an end to the Korean War on the 65th anniversary of the armistice on July 27th.

But it said the U.S. had no words about establishing a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula and even tried to put the already agreed issue of declaring an end to the Korean War back burner, citing various terms and reasons.

South Korea adheres to the goal of seeking the declaration within this year as agreed during the inter-Korean summit in April.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in Japan following his North Korea trip that measures on security guarantees for North Korea and improvement in bilateral relations can take place during the denuclearization process, hinting at a simultaneous approach.  

But he reaffirmed that the Trump administration won't lift sanctions against Pyongyang until its final, fully-verified denuclearization.

[Photo : KBS News]