N. Korea says it’s open to nuclear talks

[Forkboy]

SEOUL - North Korea said today that it is open to new dialogue to defuse tensions over its nuclear weapons program in what appeared to be a call for direct talks with the United States.

The statement from Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry marks a rare expression of willingness to talk by a regime that has rapidly escalated tensions with a flurry of provocations in recent months, including a nuclear test and missile launches.

It also suggests that isolated North Korea thinks that it has raised its stakes enough, and it’s time to negotiate.

Today, the North reiterated that it won’t return to six-nation nuclear talks involving China, Japan, the two Koreas, Russia, and the United States, saying the forum seeks only to “disarm and incapacitate’’ the nation. But it added, without elaborating, that “there is a specific and reserved form of dialogue that can address the current situation.’’

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2009/07/27/n_korea_says_its_open_to_nuclear_talks/