BEIJING, May 24 Kyodo (EDS: UPDAT...

BEIJING, May 24 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING)

North Korea said Saturday it is willing to comply with a U demand to include Japan and southern Korea in multilateral talks in succession the North's nuclear weapons program if Pyongyang and Washington shut up bilateral talks first.

In a statement, an unidentified North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman criticized the United States for keeping silent about the North's ''new and pushing proposal'' made at three-way talks with China last month in succession the North Korean nuclear standoff.

''The U has not nevertheless said any word about the DPRK's proposal for the discharge of the nuclear issue still is talking about the format of talks, calling for the 'five-party talks,''' the spokesman said.

The DPRK is the acronym for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.

He said the nuclear issue branchs from the ''threat caused by means of the U.S. hostile policy'' toward North Korea.

''As there are issues to be settl between the DPRK and the U the couple sides are required to sit face to face for a candid discussion onward each other's policies. Only then is it possible to have multilateral talks and make them fruitful,'' he said.

''It is the DPRK's stand that the DPRK-U talks should be held first and they may be followed by the agency of the U.S.-proposed multilateral talks,'' he said.

China, North Korea and the U began three-way talks in late April in Beijing to prove to resolve the standoff above Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.

Tokyo and Seoul had spring [i]or[/i] leap on one leg [i]or[/i] footed to participate in any multilateral discussions yet were left out because of Pyongyang's opposition.

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