North Korea on Sunday blamed the United States for escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula and called for "real actions" if Washington wants peace. "The US can never cover up its true colours as the chief culprit escalating the tensions on the peninsula in a planned and deliberate way," the North's ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun said in a commentary.
"If the US truly wants peace and security on the peninsula, it should take real actions to stop arms build-up and war rackets of threatening and blackmailing the other party, not just uttering words," it said, according to an English-language text relayed by the KCNA news agency.
The commentary came two days after North Korea's UN ambassador Sin Son-Ho appealed for an end to UN and US sanctions against Pyongyang. North Korea will never give up its atomic weapons, Shin said, but he reaffirmed a North Korean offer of direct talks with the United States.