Updated on : Wednesday, October 7, 2009 WASHINGTON: The United States said Monday it was ready to talk to North Korea if it returns to six-nation disarmament talks but said that the goal must be a complete end of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons.
US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly was reacting to an announcement by North Korean state media that it was ready to return to six-way disarmament talks if separate negotiations with the United States make progress.
"We and our six-party partners want North Korea to engage in a dialogue that leads to complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula through irreversible steps," Kelly said.
"The US remains willing to engage North Korea bilaterally within the framework of the six-party process to convince North Korea to take the path of complete denuclearization," he said.
North Korea in April declared the six-nation forum and its agreements to be null and void after the United Nations condemned its long-range rocket launch. The communist state later also tested an atom bomb.
The six-way talks -- grouping China, Japan, the two Koreas, Russia and the United States -- had signed a statement in 2005 under which Pyongyang would end its nuclear program in return for badly needed aid and security guarantees.
Kelly said that the United States was in "close coordination" with other nations in the six-party talks.
"The United States remains committed to the goal of the September 2005 joint statement: the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula in a peaceful manner," he said.
"There is consensus among the five parties that the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula remains the core objective and essential goal of our engagement with North Korea," Kelly said.
He said that the nations also agreed that "the six-party process is the best mechanism for achieving denuclearization and that we remain committed to the full implementation" of UN Security Council resolutions pressuring Pyongyang.
Updated on : Wednesday, October 7, 2009US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly was reacting to an announcement by North Korean state media that it was ready to return to six-way disarmament talks if separate negotiations with the United States make progress.
"We and our six-party partners want North Korea to engage in a dialogue that leads to complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula through irreversible steps," Kelly said.
"The US remains willing to engage North Korea bilaterally within the framework of the six-party process to convince North Korea to take the path of complete denuclearization," he said.
North Korea in April declared the six-nation forum and its agreements to be null and void after the United Nations condemned its long-range rocket launch. The communist state later also tested an atom bomb.
The six-way talks -- grouping China, Japan, the two Koreas, Russia and the United States -- had signed a statement in 2005 under which Pyongyang would end its nuclear program in return for badly needed aid and security guarantees.
Kelly said that the United States was in "close coordination" with other nations in the six-party talks.
"The United States remains committed to the goal of the September 2005 joint statement: the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula in a peaceful manner," he said.
"There is consensus among the five parties that the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula remains the core objective and essential goal of our engagement with North Korea," Kelly said.
He said that the nations also agreed that "the six-party process is the best mechanism for achieving denuclearization and that we remain committed to the full implementation" of UN Security Council resolutions pressuring Pyongyang.
WASHINGTON: The United States said Monday it was ready to talk to North Korea if it returns to six-nation disarmament talks but said that the goal must be a complete end of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons.
US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly was reacting to an announcement by North Korean state media that it was ready to return to six-way disarmament talks if separate negotiations with the United States make progress.
"We and our six-party partners want North Korea to engage in a dialogue that leads to complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula through irreversible steps," Kelly said.
"The US remains willing to engage North Korea bilaterally within the framework of the six-party process to convince North Korea to take the path of complete denuclearization," he said.
North Korea in April declared the six-nation forum and its agreements to be null and void after the United Nations condemned its long-range rocket launch. The communist state later also tested an atom bomb.
The six-way talks -- grouping China, Japan, the two Koreas, Russia and the United States -- had signed a statement in 2005 under which Pyongyang would end its nuclear program in return for badly needed aid and security guarantees.
Kelly said that the United States was in "close coordination" with other nations in the six-party talks.
"The United States remains committed to the goal of the September 2005 joint statement: the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula in a peaceful manner," he said.
"There is consensus among the five parties that the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula remains the core objective and essential goal of our engagement with North Korea," Kelly said.
He said that the nations also agreed that "the six-party process is the best mechanism for achieving denuclearization and that we remain committed to the full implementation" of UN Security Council resolutions pressuring Pyongyang.
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