N. Korea urges Washington to stop 'hostile policy'

SEOUL, June 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Friday that it sent an open letter to the United States government, urging it to cease its "hostile policy" toward the country.

"The participants in the joint conference of the DPRK (North Korea) government, political parties and organizations sent an open letter to the United States of America on Friday," said the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in an English dispatch monitored in Seoul.

The North argued that the hostile policy has been pursued for a long time, urging Washington to make a bold political decision to change.

"The U.S. would be well advised to choose a new way of thinking and opt for a new practice, away from the old framework of its anachronistic hostile policy toward the DPRK, which has shackled its thinking and practice for a long period," the North said.

Pyongyang also pushed the U.S. to stop any military exercise with Seoul on the Korean Peninsula, citing it as "the root cause of escalating tension."

"The U.S. is the main stumbling block in the way of settling the issue of Korea's reunification as it is stoking hostility and a stand-off between the North and the South and escalating tensions by interfering in the internal affairs of the nation," according to the KCNA.
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