Obama Dismisses North Korea Proposal on Halting Nuke Tests

A day after North Korea’s foreign minister told The Associated Press that his country is ready to halt its nuclear tests if the United States suspends its annual military exercises with South Korea, President Barack Obama said Sunday that Washington isn’t taking the proposal seriously and Pyongyang would “have to do better than that.”
Obama Dismisses North Korea Proposal on Halting Nuke Tests
U.S. soldiers from 2nd Infantry Division hang a South Korean flag on the top of their M1A2 tank during a U.S.-South Korea joint river crossing exercise in the border city of Yeoncheon, northeast of Seoul, on May 30, 2013. Jung Yeon-je/AFP/Getty Images
The Associated Press
Updated:

NEW YORK—A day after North Korea’s foreign minister told The Associated Press that his country is ready to halt its nuclear tests if the United States suspends its annual military exercises with South Korea, President Barack Obama said Sunday that Washington isn’t taking the proposal seriously and Pyongyang would “have to do better than that.”

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong, interviewed Saturday by the AP, also defended his country’s right to maintain a nuclear deterrent and warned that Pyongyang won’t be cowed by international sanctions. And for those waiting for the North’s regime to collapse, he had this to say: Don’t hold your breath.