In a rare gesture of co-operation, North Korea suggested on Monday it is willing to sit down with the U.S. to work towards easing global tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.
The nation appears to feel that its recent nuclear tests -- underground and over the ocean -- have boosted its negotiating power and the potential for one-on-one talks with Washington.
However Hillary Clinton, the U.S. secretary of state, just hours earlier advised the North to push forward with six-nation talks that are already underway.
Pyongyang has rejected those talks.
The news of North Korea's willingness to sit down came in a statement Monday morning from the country's foreign ministry.
"There is a specific and reserved form of dialogue that can address the current situation," said the statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
There were no other details about what that form of dialogue might actually look like, however the nation has been seeking face-to-face talks with the U.S. in recent months.
It was a rare gesture from the reclusive nation known for its willingness to walk away from the table, and one whose recent nuclear tests have put the world's nuclear powers on edge.
The olive branch proffered on Monday suggested Pyongyang feels it has raised the stakes to a level that justify a response from the international communities, and it will receive a legitimate welcome at the negotiating table.
The recent nuclear and military provocations by North Korea include the following:
- A long-range rocket launch
- Walking away from the six-nation talks
- The re-starting of nuclear plants
- The testing of a phalanx of banned ballistic missiles
- A nuclear test
In the Monday statement Pyongyang made it clear that six-nation talks were over.
"It became all the more clear that other parties are taking advantage of these six-party talks to seek their ulterior aims to disarm and incapacitate the (North) so that it can only subsist on the bread crumbs thrown away by them," it said
The brief sentence on dialogue followed a long rant against the multilateral process.
But there were no threats included in the statement -- another sign Pyongyang may be softening its hard-line stance.
It was also reported in North Korea's main newspaper that an envoy told an Asian security conference last week that nuclear-related tensions were strictly between Pyongyang and Washington.
The U.S. says it will consider one-on-one talks within the framework of the six-nation discussions, so long as North Korea doesn't abandon the process.
Sanctions have been imposed by the United Nations against North Korea as a result of the recent nuclear and military tests.
South Korea on Monday, in line with those UN sanctions, blacklisted five North Korean officials, four companies and a state agency. The sanctions include a travel ban and freeze on financial assets -- though the move is largely symbolic.
On Sunday, North Korea's defense chief threatened that the country will "mercilessly and resolutely counter the enemy's sanctions with retaliation."
And defense Minister Kim Yong Chun also vowed to deal "unimaginably deadly blows" to the United States and South Korea if they attack the communist nation, according to Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency.
China -- North Korea's main ally, was praised Sunday by Clinton for being "extremely positive and productive" in urging Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program.
