The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday reiterated its principled stand on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and vowed to implement the joint statement adopted at the fourth round of the six-party talks and seek a negotiated peaceful settlement.

"The denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is the final goal of the DPRK and the cherished desire of the Korean nation," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a commentary.

"The U.S. hardline conservatives' misinterpretation of the DPRK's stand is a mean trick to mislead the opinion of the world and shift the responsibility for the stalled talks upon the DPRK," the KCNA said.

According to the KCNA, Schneider, chairman of the Defence Science Committee of the U.S. Defense Department, said recently that "it is illusion to judge that North Korea (DPRK) stands for the settlement of the nuclear issue and that additional sanctions are one of the options."

The commentary said there could be no smooth and fair talks so long as the United States sticks to its hostile policy towards the DPRK.

It reiterated that U.S. financial sanctions are a major obstacle to the resumption of the talks.

"If the U.S. truly wants the resumption of the talks and their progress, it had better opt for lifting its financial sanctions against the DPRK and coexisting with it," the commentary stressed.

Source: Xinhua