North Korea ready to rejoin nuclear talks

By Wang Zhaokun

North Korea said Saturday that it is willing to rejoin the six-party nuclear disarmament talks, but at the same time warned that it would build up its armed forces should the US continue its military threat against it.

North Korea "remains unchanged in its will to implement the September 19 joint statement adopted at the Six-Party Talks for denuclearizing the whole Korean Peninsula," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) quoted a foreign ministry spokesman as saying on condition of anonymity.

The official was referring to a 2005 deal, confirmed by another accord in 2007, that offered to provide North Korea with economic aid and security guarantees in exchange for its denuclearization.

However, Pyongyang will remain patient, as "the US and some other participating countries are not ready for the talks," the spokesman added.

Pyongyang's willingness to return to the talks coincides with the end of a five-day visit to China by North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan.

Kim returned home Saturday after holding talks with Chinese officials on issues including the Six-Party Talks, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported Sunday.

Also on that day, Pyongyang's official Minju Joson newspaper blasted South Korea for the latter's participation in the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) naval drill earlier this week involving the US, Japan and Australia, which was aimed at preventing the transfer of weapons of mass destruction.

"This is an outright military provocation and an open declaration of war against us," the newspaper said. "Illegal provocative acts such as the PSI would bring nothing but military conflicts and worse inter-Korean relations."

It also warned that North Korea would build up its armed forces "100- or 1,000-fold" should the US continue its military provocation.

"With the successful adjustment of its leadership, North Korea is becoming more stable and seeks to solve other issues," Lü Chao, director of the Korean Research Center at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

"China also played a very important role in pursuing North Korea to return to the talks," he added.

Cui Zhiying, director of the Korean Peninsula Research Center at Tongji University, told the Global Times, "The resumption of the talks remains difficult until the US, South Korea and Japan can see some real actions made by North Korea for its denuclearization."

Agencies contributed to this story