North Korea says it is confused by U.S. position

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea said Sunday it was confused by U.S. policy toward the reclusive communist state, but it did not rule out returning to six-nation negotiations over its nuclear weapons program.

In the statement, a Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed a May 13 meeting between State Department representatives and North Korean officials at the United Nations and said conflicting remarks by U.S. officials only "confuse" the U.S. position at a time when the communist state is "cautiously considering" the American position.

The statement Sunday, monitored by South Korea's Yonhap news agency, comes amid a flurry of efforts to get North Korea back to the bargaining table following its announcement two weeks ago that it has removed 8,000 fuel rods from a reactor, a step toward extracting weapons-grade plutonium.

Meanwhile, the North may be driven by a critical need for aid.

A North Korean cargo ship arrived in South Korea on Sunday to pick up fertilizer for the impoverished country -- the first such vessel from the isolated communist regime to dock here in 21 years. The shipment was part of Seoul's agreement last week to give 200,000 tons of fertilizer to the North. Officials said shipments between the countries will be completed by June.

North Korea has been dependent on outside aid since the 1990s, when more than 1 million people are estimated to have died from famine there.

Citing differences between Washington's public and private statements, the North's official Korean Central News Agency quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman: Pyongyang "will continue to closely watch the U.S. side's attitude, and when the time comes we will officially deliver to the U.S. side our position through the New York contacts."

The statement stood in contrast with the North's earlier vitriolic rhetoric against the United States, accusing the Bush administration of plotting to attack to overthrow its government.

May 13 meeting

The State Department had no immediate comment, but has said the May 13 meeting did not include negotiations and only involved restating Washington's position on nuclear nonproliferation.

But the Foreign Ministry spokesman said U.S. officials reaffirmed recognition of the North's sovereignty and said it would not attack. The spokesman complained that some U.S. officials were still making threatening remarks.

"If the United States sincerely wants to resolve the issue through the six-party talks, it should move in the direction to actually make conditions and atmosphere so that the talks can open," the spokesman said.

The spokesman reaffirmed North Korea's commitment "to peacefully resolve the issue through dialogue and negotiations."

The North has demanded the United States end its "hostile policy" and apologize for remarks by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice calling it an "outpost of tyranny" in January.

Rice said earlier this month that the United States "recognizes that North Korea is sovereign." But Washington's chief envoy on North Korea, Christopher Hill, said during a visit to Seoul last week that a nuclear test by Pyongyang would provoke unspecified action.

Japanese officials have indicated a nuclear test would lead them to seek U.N. sanctions, which the North has called tantamount to a declaration of war.

Last week, the North and South held their first face-to-face talks in 10 months and agreed to set a date for a Cabinet-level meeting next month.