North Korea is opening up

North Korean leader seeks end to confrontation with South

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for an end to confrontation between the two Koreas, technically still at war in the absence of a peace treaty to end their 1950-53 conflict, in a surprise New Year speech broadcast on state media.

The address by Kim, who took over power in the reclusive state after his father, Kim Jong-il, died in 2011, appeared to take the place of the policy-setting New Year editorial published in leading state newspapers.

But North Korea has offered olive branches before and Kim's speech does not necessarily signify a change in tack from a country which vilifies the United States and U.S. ally South Korea at every chance it gets.

I believe it is different this time. Korea is opening up its economy and their only supporter, China, would like to push the United States out of Northeast Asia. North Korea has its owns reasons to end 60 years of self-imposed exile, while China sees reunification as positive for China.