The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said on Wednesday that it would dismantle its nuclear weapons program only when the United States accepts the "reward for freeze" proposa l and drops its hostile policy toward the DPRK.

"We wish to wipe out mistrust and build confidence between the DPRK and the US by beginning implementing the measure of 'reward for freeze'," said a DPRK Foreign Ministry spokesman.

The spokesman said that a freeze was the first phase leading tothe final dismantling of its nuclear facilities and it should be monitored, which means an objective verification.

"It is quite preposterous for the US to urge the DPRK to disarmitself before anything else. The DPRK, therefore, can never accept this," the spokesman said.

He said the DPRK will naturally return to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if the Korean peninsula is de-nuclearized and the fundamental elements which compelled the DPRK to pull out of the treaty are consequently removed.

"It is the unshakable stand of the DPRK that it cannot stop its nuclear activities for a peaceful purpose before this happens," said the spokesman.

The third round of the six-nation talks in Beijing last month ended with no major breakthroughs toward freezing Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. The talks involved the United States, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the DPRK.

At the talks, the DPRK offered to freeze its nuclear program inexchange for energy, the lifting of US economic sanctions and removal from Washington's list of countries that sponsor terrorism.

Earlier, Washington had demanded an unconditional end to the North's nuclear programs.

Source:Xinhua