US urges DPRK to return to six-party talks

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-10-31 09:04

WASHINGTON - The United States called on Pyongyang to return to the stalled six-party talks, designed to solve nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, a spokesman for the US state department said on Monday.

The US State Department declined to comment on the possibility of more nuclear tests by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

"We don't know. There have been no promises, as far as we've been able to discern, from the North Korean (DPRK) government not to test. We would hope that it's not the case," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said at a news briefing.

McCormack made the remarks following South Korean media reports about the movement toward a second nuclear test.

The DPRK, which announced on October 9 that it had a successful nuclear test, has been refusing to return to the six-party talks since November 2005 when it boycotted US financial restrictions.