North Korea said on Sunday it would respond to an overture by the United States which seeks to reopen six-country talks aimed at persuading Pyonyang to scrap its declared nuclear arsenal, Reuters reprted. The country confirmed it had spoken with the United States on May 13 at the United Nations and would respond at "an appropriate time". It was not clear whether its response would include a decision on returning to the talks. A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said the government stuck to its hope any nuclear talks would be "successful", according to its official news agency. But the spokesman added that "disturbing outbursts" from the U.S. created confusion over Washington's real stand. "The DPRK remains unchanged in its stand to stick to the goal for denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and seek a peaceful negotiated solution to the nuclear issue," said an unnamed Foreign Ministry official. DPRK is short for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. --more 2118 Local Time 1818 GMT
