N Korea backs 'dialogue'

North Korea said it was open to new dialogue to defuse tensions over its nuclear weapons programme, in what appeared to be a call for direct talks with the US.

The statement from Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry marks a rare expression of willingness to talk by a regime that has rapidly escalated tensions with a flurry of provocations in recent months, including a nuclear test and a series of missile launches.

The North made it clear it would not return to six-nation nuclear talks involving China, Japan, the two Koreas, Russia and the US, but added: “There is a specific and reserved form of dialogue that can address the current situation.”