The United States responded with measured skepticism Friday after North Korea signaled to a visiting group of American lawmakers that it was willing to rejoin six-party negotiations over its nuclear program. US officials noted they had received no formal notification from Pyongyang and were taking a wait-and-see approach.
Congressman Curt Weldon, a Pennsylvania Republican who led the six-member House Armed Services Committee delegation following a four-day Pyongyang visit, said North Korea could return to the table within weeks. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Washington had been briefed by Weldon's team through the US embassy in Seoul.
North Korea's state news agency said the country was prepared to treat the United States as a friend and resume talks, but attached a condition: the offer would lapse if President George W. Bush, set to begin a second term the following week, criticized the country or meddled in its internal affairs.
North Korea had participated in three inconclusive rounds of negotiations involving South Korea, Japan, Russia, China, and the United States before skipping a fourth round in September, citing what it called hostile American policies. Boucher said any resumed talks must cover the full scope of Pyongyang's nuclear activity, including uranium enrichment.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in January 2005, in its own words.