DPRK eager to ease tensions on Korean Peninsula: newspaper

PYONGYANG, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was hoping to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula in order to create a peaceful environment for the country's economic construction, an official newspaper said Saturday.

The DPRK was more eager than before for a peaceful environment as it was speeding up the construction of a "great, powerful and prosperous nation," an article in the Rodong Sinmun daily said.

The strained situation on the peninsula was neither in the interest of the Korean people, nor helpful to regional peace, it explained.

The source of the tension was the United States' hostile policy against the DPRK, the article said, urging Washington to drop its hostile policy in a bid to improve DPRK-U.S. relations.

Meanwhile, the DPRK also demanded a peace treaty replacing the armistice which ended the 1950-53 Korean War and a withdrawal of the U.S. forces from South Korea, it added.

It was the DPRK's firm stand to prevent a war and secure peace on the Korean Peninsula. Therefore, the country would continue to strengthen its "defense ability," said the article.