North Korea today suggested a different "form of dialogue" on dismantling its nuclear weapons programmes, reiterating it would not return to the existing six-party talks, state media said.
The statement from the North's foreign ministry came after Pyongyang's UN envoy, Sin Son-Ho, said last week that it was not opposed to negotiations with the United States, but would no longer participate in the multilateral forum.
"Any attempt to side with those who claim the resumption of the six-party talks without grasping the essence of the matter will not help ease tension," a foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement.
"There is a specific and reserved form of dialogue that can address the current situation." The spokesman did not elaborate on what form such a dialogue could take. "What Pyongyang calls for is a direct US-North Korean dialogue," Kim Yong-Hyun, a North Korea expert and professor at Seoul's Dongguk University, said.
The North quit the six-party talks after the UN Security Council censured it for a long-range rocket launch in April. In May, it also staged its second nuclear test.
The Council has since imposed tougher sanctions, including an expanded arms embargo and beefed up inspections of air, sea and land shipments going to and from North Korea.