saving way back to the table. "The U.S. side clarified its official stand to recognise the DPRK as a sovereign state, not to invade it and hold bilateral talks within the framework of the six-party talks," KCNA said. "The DPRK side interpreted the U.S. side's expression of its stand as a retraction of its remark designating the former as an outpost of tyranny and decided to return to the six-party talks," the agency said. DPRK is short for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Hill, a former ambassador to South Korea and an experienced negotiator, met the North Korean talks envoy in Beijing shortly before Rice arrived. She is on a visit to the region, with the focus on the nuclear crisis.
