Nuclear Bluff Called? North Korea Sets Terms for Talks With U.S., South

Has North Korea finally reached its breaking point? After months of blistering war rhetoric, Pyongyang set terms for opening up a dialogue with the U.S. and South Korea Thursday, signaling the insular nation may understand its backed itself into a diplomatic corner with its incessant nuclear posturing.

Of course, North Korea's conditions aren't exactly what most would consider reasonable. Pyongyang said the country would only enter into discussions if the United Nations removed the sanctions against it.

"If the U.S. and the South enemies... genuinely want dialogue and negotiation, they should take these steps," North Korea's defense commission said in a statement.

"The first step will be withdrawing the UN Security Council resolutions cooked up on ridiculous grounds... They should bear in mind that doing so would be a token of good will towards the DPRK." In the traditional say-it-and-believe-it naming style of totalitarian regimes, DPRK, or Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is the country's official name.

North Korea also said that the U.S. and the South must cease their joint military exercises at once. The North has constantly used the annual U.S.-South Korea military drills as an excuse for its brazen antagonism.

"Second, you need to tell the whole world that you will not get involved in any rehearsal for a nuclear war that threatens our nation. Dialogues and war games can never go together," said North Korea.

North Korea's final term likely surprised no one: total nuclear disarmament.

"The denuclearization of the Korean peninsula can begin with the removal of the nuclear war tools dragged in by the U.S. and it can lead to global nuclear disarmament," North Korea stated.

South Korea dismissed the North's terms as "totally incomprehensible."

In recent months, North Korea has released a flood of nearly daily threats aimed at South Korea, Japan, and the U.S. and its military bases in the region. Many analysts attribute the nation's continuous hostility to its anger over crippling economic sanctions brought against Pyongyang by the UN due to the North's refusal to give up its nuclear ambitions.

The most recently approved U.N sanctions "broaden and tighten" the many current financial, economic and trade sanctions that have been in effect against Pyongyang since 2006, and outright ban the sale of luxuries such as yachts and sports cars in the country, highly cherished toys of North Korea's "ruling elite", according to NBC News. Some of the measures will also seek to stymie North Korea's ability to move its money around the world, and finance and gather material for its weapons programs.

North Korea rejected the recently approved fifth round of harsher United Nations Security Council sanctions against the country, claiming they were a fundamentally flawed path toward improving relations in the region. The U.N. voted unanimously March 7 to approve tougher sanctions against North Korea as punishment for the country's third nuclear missile test launch in February, stoking the ire of North Korea, who described America as a "criminal threatening global peace" just hours before the U.N.'s vote.

North Korea has made a point in recent months of displaying its military brawn through open threats aimed at the U.S. and South, provocative military exercises aimed at South Korean and U.S. targets, and more.

North Korea engaged the U.S. and South with nuclear missile threats throughout last week. Pyongyang declared the country had "powerful striking means" set on standby Thursday, a not so subtle suggestion it was preparing to test launch a medium-range missile. North Korea is planning to launch a medium-range Musadan missile "any day," according to South Korean and U.S. defense officials. South Korea said launching a Musadan missile, which is ballistic, would be a direct violation of the United Nations Security Council sanction that bans Pyongyang from any ballistic activity.

Experts on the region aren't convinced North Korea will follow through on its promises to engage the South in a full-scale attack such as the instigation that began the Korean War in 1950. However, analysts remain concerned the heightened tensions could pressure North Korea into a "skirmish," which could potentially develop into a legitimate conflict.