In answering a question raised by the KCNA about a recent DPRK Foreign Ministry delegation visit to China, the spokesman said the DPRK was ready for the resumption of the denuclearization talks but would not act hastily. It would make ceaseless patient efforts "now that the U.S. and some other participating countries are not ready for them".

The spokesman said the delegation had "an exhaustive and candid discussion on DPRK-China relations, the resumption of the six-party talks and the regional situation".

The DPRK remained unchanged in its will to "implement the Sept. 19 joint statement adopted at the six-party talks for denuclearizing the whole Korean Peninsula", the spokesman said.

The DPRK delegation, headed by First Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Kim Kye Gwan, visited China on Oct. 12-16.

The statement, which was approved at the fourth round of the six-party talks held in Beijing on Sept. 19, 2005, called for further talks to form a permanent peace system on the Korean Peninsula.

Xinhua