The United States urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday to be "serious" when it returns to the six-party talks designed for the settlement of nuclear issues on the Korean peninsula.

Commenting on the DPRK's declaration that it is willing to return to negotiations on its nuclear weapons program, the White House spokesman Scott McClellan said "We will see. They haven't given us a date."

"When they do return to the talks, we want North Korea to be prepared to talk in a substantive and serious way about how to move forward on the proposal we have on the table. And that's where our focus is," McClellan said.

The spokesman said that US proposals put on the last round of the six-party talks remain valid.

The United States proposed last year multilateral security guarantees for the DPRK and energy assistance if an end to its nuclear weapons program could be verified. Pyongyang has rejected the proposals.

Pyongyang confirmed on Wednesday that it is in contacts with Washington aiming to resume the six-party talks, and urged the US side to respond to its call for meeting necessary conditions and creating an environment conducive to the resumption.

The six-party disarmament talks, involving the United States, the DPRK, the Republic of Korea, China, Japan and Russia, was stalled in June last year as the DPRK accused the United States of adopting a hostile policy towards Pyongyang.

Source: Xinhua