US Calls for Stronger NK Commitment to Nuke Talks

The United States welcomed remarks by a North Korean envoy that Pyongyang will return to the six-party talks on its denuclearization before June, but called for more than words, Yonhap News Agency said Saturday.

"A statement that they have no preconditions for arriving at those talks -- while on the face of it being positive, it is the actions that speak the loudest in this particular context," State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said.

Duguid was responding to a report that a North Korean diplomat in London told reporters that North Korea will return to the six-party talks before June without any preconditions attached.

"We've been consistent on what we would like to see from North Korea," Duguid said. "We would like to see them come back to the six-party talks. So rather than making statements about them, if they do wish to re-engage, they can make that known to the chair of the six-party group, and we can begin from there."

The nuclear talks have been stalled since early last year, when the United Nations imposed sanctions in response to the North's nuclear and missile tests.