The White House said that North Korea must return to six-country nuclear talks before any negotiations can be held on achieving permanent peace on the Korean peninsula. “The approach with North Korea has always been the same,” White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters aboard the presidential airplane. “When North Korea comes back and participates in the six-party talks, then we can proceed.” “Nothing happens until North Korea goes back and participates in the six-party talks dealing with the possibility of developing nuclear weapons. To talk about any further steps would be premature,” Snow said. The new White House spokesman was commenting on a New York Times article Thursday that said the Bush administration would consider opening a parallel track of negotiations on a peace treaty to replace the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War.
