Director General of Department of U.S. Affairs of Foreign Ministry of DPRK Releases Statement

                                                     

Pyongyang, September 16 (KCNA) -- The director general of the Department of U.S. Affairs of the Foreign Ministry of the DPRK Monday made public the following statement:

It is fortunate that the U.S. has repeatedly expressed its stand to tackle an issue through dialogue and negotiations.

I hope that the working-level negotiations expected to be held in a few weeks will be a good meeting between the DPRK and the U.S.

A proposal that the U.S. put forward at the negotiations may improve the relations and, on the contrary, may add to the hostility towards each other.

In other words, the DPRK-U.S. dialogue suggests two options--crisis and chance.

In this sense, the upcoming working-level negotiations will be an occasion decisive of the future road of the DPRK-U.S. dialogue

Clear and invariable is the DPRK's stand.

The discussion of denuclearization may be possible when threats and hurdles endangering our system security and obstructing our development are clearly removed beyond all doubt.

Whether the DPRK-U.S. negotiations will be a window for chance or an occasion to precipitate crisis is entirely up to the U.S. -0-