����PYONGYANG, April 12 (Xinhuanet) -- The Democratic People's Republic
of Korea (DPRK) is willing to resume dialogue with the United States, but
conditions for such talks are not ripe, a DPRK foreign ministry spokesman
said Friday.
����"In order to improve the bilateral relations that had been brought
back to those in the period of confrontation, it is necessary to resume
the DPRK-U.S. talks and they will be resumed any time when conditions are
created," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) quoted the spokesman as
saying.
����"The DPRK is of the view that such environment has not yet
beencreated, given that there are factors of blocking the resumption of
the DPRK-U.S. talks," said the spokesman, adding that the DPRK considers
it possible to resume the dialogue, if it is the true intention of the
U.S. to respect its dialogue partner and let the DPRK have the dialogue on
an equal footing.
����The DPRK-U.S. talks have been frozen since U.S. President George W.
Bush took office in January 2001. The DPRK has accused Bush of pursuing a
hostile policy toward the country by dubbing itas part of an "axis of
evil" at the start of this year. Enditem
