North Korea demands U.S. remove nuclear threat

North Korea would give up its nuclear weapons only after the U.S. atomic threat is removed from the divided peninsula and relations with the United States are normalized, according to a South Korean report.

The North also demanded Washington give up plans to topple its communist regime, establish mechanisms for peaceful coexistence and promise not to use nuclear weapons, according to a report from Yonhap news agency that didn't cite any sources.

The comments were reportedly made by the head of the North Korean delegation, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, the AP reports.