US envoy: DPRK return to talks important

The US special envoy for the DPRK, Stephen Bosworth, has wrapped up his two-day visit to Seoul after meeting with South Korean Unification Minister Hyun In-taek. Bosworth told reporters that the DPRK's return to the six party talks remains the priority.

Bosworth said that once Pyongyang comes back to the negotiating table, the US can consider bettering diplomatic ties with the DPRK and replacing a truce with a peace treaty, which would officially end the Korean War.

Stephen Bosworth, US Special Envoy to DPRK, said, "But we also recognize that it will be important to begin discussions on questions regarding the peace treaty, establishment of diplomatic relations and the issues of economic and energy assistance to North Korea, and we are prepared to do that in the normal course of events once we've come back in the six party talks process and once we've begun to make significant progress on the de-nuclearization."

His remarks come at a time when a series of recent events raise hopes for Pyongyang's imminent return to the suspended six-party talks.

Also in Seoul, peace activists held a rally urging the lifting of sanctions on the DPRK.

Yoo Young-Jae, Protest Leader, said, "They should hold a peace forum for a peaceful Korean peninsula as well as the six-party talks for a nuclear-free peninsula. And they should lift the sanctions against the DPRK. If they lift the sanctions, we can urge Pyongyang to stop its nuclear program."

The six party talks, involving the DPRK, South Korea, China, US, Japan and Russia, were halted last year when the DPRK boycotted them in protest over UN sanctions.