North Korea Explains Conditions for Getting Rid of Nuclear Weapons Ahead of U.S. Talks

In a statement published Monday by the official Korean Central News Agency, the director-general of the North Korean Foreign Ministry's Department of U.S. Affairs said it was "fortunate that the U.S. has repeatedly expressed its stand to tackle an issue through dialogue and negotiations." The official also voiced "hope that the working-level negotiations expected to be held in a few weeks will be a good meeting between the DPRK and the U.S.," using an acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The statement noted that Washington's approach could either "improve the relations" between it and Pyongyang or "add to the hostility towards each other, arguing there were "two options — crisis and chance" and it was "entirely up to the U.S." to choose between the two.

"Clear and invariable is the DPRK's stand," the official was cited as saying. "The discussion of denuclearization may be possible when threats and hurdles endangering our system security and obstructing our development are clearly removed beyond all doubt."

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