Nuclear test means now we can talk: North Korea

bush's* diplomacy by fear. wtf

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061128/ts_nm/korea_north_dc

By Benjamin Kang Lim


BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korea is prepared to return to six-country talks on its nuclear weapons program at any time now that it has "gained a defensive position" with a nuclear test, a senior envoy of the communist state said on Tuesday.

But Kim Kye-gwan told reporters in Beijing that North Korea still had differences to narrow with the United States, which has squeezed Pyongyang's external sources of financing for more than a year.

North Korea agreed to return to the six-party talks, which it had boycotted for a year, after its October 9 nuclear test triggered U.N.-backed sanctions.

"Because after the nuclear test, we have gained a defensive position against those who are trying to suppress us. Now we are in a very confident position and so we are ready to come back to the talks any time," Kim told reporters.