The leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has stated that his country is ready to resume six-party negotiations on the nuclear issue.

“We are ready to hold multilateral talks, depending on the outcome of the DPRK – US talks. The six-party talks are also included in the multilateral talks,” the DPRK leader was quoted by the Korean Central News Agency as saying on October 5.

The DPRK’s efforts to attain the goal of denuclearising the peninsula remain unchanged, he said at a meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Pyongyang .

This was the first time the DPRK leader talked about the possibility of his country returning to the talks since April.

In response to the DPRK leader’s statement, US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said that the US was ready to negotiate bilaterally with the DPRK if the DPRK returned to the six-party talks.

The goal of the talks needs to be for the DPRK to end its nuclear programme, he stressed.