DPRK ready to return to six-party talks

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was ready to rejoin the six-party talks, DPRK Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun said in Phnom Penh on Saturday.

Cambodian Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said Pak confirmed DPRK's readiness to return to the stalled talks, aimed at denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, when meeting with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong.

Hor, who had lobbied the DPRK to return to the negotiating table during a visit to Pyongyang last month, said Cambodia welcomed Pyongyang's decision.

During the meeting, Pak spoke highly of Hor's visit to DPRK in June as the ASEAN chair, saying Pyongyang appreciated Hor's proposals to promote their bilateral ties in agriculture and industry.

The two ministers also agreed to further beef up bilateral trade, according to the spokesman.

The two-way trade volume was a mere $500,000 in 2011.

Pak paid an official visit to Cambodia after attending the ASEAN Regional Forum Friday.

The six-party talks, which involve the Republic of Korea, the DPRK, China, the United States, Japan and Russia, began in 2003 but stalled in December 2008.

The DPRK quit the talks in April 2009 in protest at international condemnation of its long-range missile tests.