North Korea ends peace treaty with South Korea after UN sanctions

North Korea have scrapped all peace treaties with South Korea and threatened pre-emptive nuclear strikes.

The move comes after the UN imposed another round of sanctions on the country over its third nuclear test. These new sanctions restrict luxury goods imports, banking activities and the inspection of cargo destined for North Korea.

Pyongyang threatened nuclear strikes on the US in the lead-up to Thursday’s vote. These appear to be the most specific threats against the US to date, but experts emphasised North Korea’s tendency to make aggressive threats without backing them up.

However, China, the North’s main ally, has stepped in and warned of further escalation in the area. The new resolution comes after talks between the US and China in an attempt to halt the North’s nuclear programme.

Hua Chunying of China’s foreign ministry told a news conference on Friday: “China and North Korea have normal country relations. At the same time, we also oppose North Korea’s conducting of nuclear tests.”

“China calls on the relevant parties to be calm and exercise restraint and avoid taking any further action that would cause any further escalations.”

However, Jennifer Lind, associate professor at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, told The Guardian: “For a long time we were sanctioning them in the hope [the North] would change its behaviour … but North Korea seems rather determined to hang on to its nuclear programme.”

Eleanor Mackay