North Korea offers to suspend nuclear tests — if U.S. and South Korea end military drills

North Korea offers to suspend nuclear tests — if U.S. and South Korea end military drills
(Image credit: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

North Korean official news agency KCNA reported on Saturday that the country used "a relevant channel" to send Washington a proposal on Friday, Reuters reports.

However, the floated deal — North Korea will halt its nuclear tests if the U.S. stops conducting military drills with South Korea — is similar to others made by Pyongyang before. They never stick, Reuters notes. North Korea calls its goal of creating a nuclear arsenal its "sacred sword" — in 2012, the country agreed to halt nuclear tests in exchange for an easing of tensions with the U.S. But Pyongyang called off the deal two months later.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Sarah Eberspacher

Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.