US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Wednesday reiterated the US goal of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and said it is up to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to decide when to return to the six-party process.

"We have some basic principles that we have to follow, and that is we must have the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Powell said in an interview with the CNBC, a US financial news television.

"I am confident that if the other five members of the six-party group stay together and made clear these principled positions that were just touched on, the North Koreans will eventually find in their interest to return. But it is up to them to decide when they want to return," Powell said.

Powell said he can not predict when the six-party talks will be resumed and accused the DPRK of having been "holding out."

Powell returned to Washington on Tuesday after a three-nation tour which brought him to Korea, China and Japan.

In addition to China, Korea and Japan, the United States, Russia and the DPRK are also involved in the six-party talks aimed at realizing the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Three rounds of the six-party talks, hosted by China, have been held to try to end the nuclear confrontation between the DPRK and the United States.

Source: Xinhua