N. Korea calls for new 'specific' form of dialogue

SEOUL, July 27 (Yonhap) -- North Korea rejected on Monday regional demands that
it return to the six-party denuclearization talks and called for a new approach
to resolve the current diplomatic stalemate, in an apparent attempt to draw
bilateral dialogue with the United States.
In a statement from its foreign ministry spokesman, North Korea criticized the
members of the ASEAN Regional Forum who called on Pyongyang to rejoin the
multilateral nuclear talks during their meeting last week, accusing them of
"blindly" responding to the call presented by some members of the talks.
"As a party concerned, we know what should be done to resolve the problem far
better than anyone else," the unidentified spokesman said in a statement carried
by the official Korean Central News Agency.
"There is a specific and reserved form of dialogue that can address the current
situation," he said.
The statement followed after the North Korean ambassador to the United Nations,
Sin Sun-ho, suggested Pyongyang wants to open dialogue with Washington.
"We are not against any negotiations on issues of common concern," the North
Korean diplomat was quoted as saying Friday by Japan's Kyodo News agency.
The communist nation has been refusing to attend the six-nation talks on ending
its nuclear ambitions since late last year, and declared in April that the
nuclear negotiations were permanently over. The talks involve the two Koreas, the
United States, Japan, China and Russia.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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