North Korea says will respond to US moves on nuke talks

SEOUL - North Korea said on Sunday it would respond to an overture by the United States which seeks to reopen six-country talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to scrap its declared nuclear arsenal.

The country confirmed it had spoken with the United States on May 13 at the United Nations and would respond at "an appropriate time". It was not clear whether its response would include a decision on returning to the talks.

A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said the government stuck to its hope any nuclear talks would be "successful", according to its official news agency.

But the spokesman added that "disturbing outbursts" from the US created confusion over Washington's real stand.

"The DPRK remains unchanged in its stand to stick to the goal for denuclearising the Korean Peninsula and seek a peaceful negotiated solution to the nuclear issue," said an unnamed Foreign Ministry official.

DPRK is short for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"In order to make the talks successful the DPRK has so far exercised its utmost patience and taken a prudent attitude to the maximum," the official said.

Washington said last week US State Department officials met North Korean diplomats at the United Nations in New York and urged the North to return to the talks.

Washington had conveyed the message it recognised the North as a sovereign state and would not attack it, KCNA quoted the official as saying.

The UN meeting, between a key US official involved in the six-party talks and North Korean envoys, signalled a shift in policy emphasis by Washington, which had previously rejected separate dealings with the North.

Diplomatic efforts by countries involved in the talks have stepped up in recent weeks, nearly a year after negotiations stalled following three rounds with no substantive progress.

Concerns have mounted after US officials said North Korea might test a nuclear weapon. Regional powers believe the North has one or two nuclear weapons and possibly more than eight.

"Quite contrary to this contact, a whole string of disturbing outbursts threatening the DPRK are again heard from among senior officials of the US administration," the spokesman said.

"They let loose such an endless string of balderdash at a time when the DPRK is seriously studying the US stance, which it had learned through the contact in New York, in connection with what the Bush administration has said," the spokesman said.

"This only creates confusion in guessing the US stand." The spokesman said Pyongyang would be watching Washington for signs of sincerity and urged the United States to create the conditions for the talks to take place, KCNA said.

A separate bilateral meeting between South and North Korea last week produced no progress on restarting the six-way talks, despite Seoul's hope to use the rare meeting to push the North back to the table.

North Korea has told China it may announce next week a return to stalled six-way talks on its nuclear weapons programme if Beijing agrees to a number of conditions, a Japanese newspaper said on Sunday.

Pyongyang demanded that China provide economic aid and try to set up a direct meeting with the United States within the six-party framework, the daily Sankei Shimbun said, quoting US diplomatic sources.

North Korea also wants Beijing to agree to back its position at the talks, rather than supporting Washington, the paper said.

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the top US envoy to the talks, was to meet a senior Russian diplomat in Geneva on Sunday to discuss North Korea, the Sankei said.

- REUTERS