"If there is political resolve in the U.S. to sincerely enact the joint statement” reached in the talks last September, “their representative at six-party talks should come to Pyongyang and explain things to us directly," a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement Thursday. In September, the North agreed in principle to scrap all its nuclear programs in return for security guarantees and economic aid.

The spokesman said the U.S. “continues to propose discussions on the nuclear issue and other critical matters, but if the concerned parties cannot sit down together, it will be impossible to find a solution.” Pyongyang takes the view that the only “concerned parties” in the nuclear standoff are North Korea and the U.S. and has repeatedly demanded bilateral talks.

Hill last September told South Korea’s then-unification minister Chung Dong-young before the talks were to resume he would like to visit the North immediately, and the Stalinist country’s deputy envoy to the UN Han Song-ryol said in October, "We've invited him, but whether he accepts the invitation is up to him."

But a government official says Hill at the time demanded that the North stop operating a 5 MW graphite reactor at Yongbyon to demonstrate its will to build trust. The North refused and the visit was shelved.

“We have already made it clear many times that if the U.S is not hostile to us, trust is between our country and the U.S. is built and we no longer feel threatened, there will no longer be a need for even a single nuclear weapon,” The North Korean spokesman said. “We have already made a strategic decision to abandon our nuclear program as reflected in the joint statement.”

(englishnews@chosun.com )