hankyoreh

North Korea said Saturday that it would be best if Japan did not take part in upcoming six-party talks on resolving the current nuclear standoff on the Korean Peninsula.

"It would be much better for Japan to refrain from participating in the six-party talks and fewer attendants would not be bad for making the talks fruitful," a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said in an interview with the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). It added that Pyongyang from the outset never asked Japan to participate in the six-party talks.

The six-party talks, which involve the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia, have been stalled since last November. But North Korea, China and the United States agreed Tuesday to resume them "at a convenient time in the near future."

The spokesman also said that since the United States will be present at the talks, Japan could ascertain what transpired in the talks from Washington.

On the reason to exclude Japan from the talks, the spokesman cited imprudent behavior by top Japanese officials in regards to North Korea's nuclear test. Japanese officials have said they will not accept North Korea as a nuclear weapons state and that this stance will be maintained at the discussion table.

The communist country detonated a nuclear device on Oct. 9, triggering the U.N. Security Council to pass a resolution on Oct.14 imposing financial and arms sanctions on the North.

The KCNA report said North Korea had agreed to rejoin talks on the condition that the issue of lifting financial sanctions would be discussed and settled at an early date between the North and the United States.

This assertion, however, has not been verified since the U.S. officially maintains that North Korea agreed to return the talks without any preconditions.

Seoul, Nov. 4 (Yonhap News)