The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Saturday urged the United States to lift financial sanctions against it, and said the lifting of sanctions was a precondition for the country's return to six-party talks.

In a statement, a Foreign Ministry spokesman accused the Washington of applying financial sanctions against the DPRK for nearly one year under U.S. domestic act, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

The lifting of financial sanctions was "a barometer judging whether the U.S. is willing to make a switchover in its DPRK policy or not," said the spokesman.

"The DPRK has clarified more than once that it will never go to the six-party talks, with sanctions imposed on it," the spokesman said, adding that "the key to settling it (the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula) is for the U.S. to give up its hostile policy toward the DPRK and opt for co-existing with it."

"To lift the financial sanctions is not a mere business-like matter... but a political issue directly related ... to the implementation of the Sept. 19 joint statement," he said.

During the fourth round of six-party talks held last September, delegates to the six-party talks adopted a statement in which the DPRK promised to abandon all existing nuclear programs, while the United States affirmed that it had no intention of attacking or invading the DPRK with nuclear or conventional weapons.

"The DPRK likes to have the six-party talks more than ever as it will gain from the implementation of the agreement more than others," said the spokesman. "It is the DPRK's stand to implement the agreement under the principle of equality."

The spokesman affirmed that the DPRK "has perfected legal and institutional mechanisms banning such illegal acts as counterfeiting notes and money-laundering," but also vowed that if the United States continued the financial sanctions, his country "is left with no other option but to take all necessary counter-measures to protect itself."

In October last year, the United States imposed sanctions on six DPRK financial companies, which Washington said were involved in illicit activities including counterfeiting notes and money-laundering.

The DPRK has repeatedly denied the U.S. allegations and ruled out participation in a new round of disarmament negotiations until the sanctions are lifted.

Source: Xinhua