SEOUL - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is ready to hold direct talks with South Korea but the isolated state will not apologize for two deadly attacks on the divided peninsula last year, former US president Jimmy Carter said on Thursday.
Carter returned from a three-day trip to Pyongyang having failed to meet Kim, but he and three other former state leaders -- known as the Elders -- received a last-minute message from the leader saying he was willing to talk with anyone at anytime without preconditions.
"He specifically told us he is prepared to meet directly with (South Korean) President Lee Myung-bak any time," Carter told a press conference in Seoul.
If Kim was willing to discuss nuclear and other military issues with South Korea, it would mark a change in policy -- the North has previously said it would only discuss them with the United States.
"Chairman and General Secretary Kim Jong-il said he is willing and the people of North Korea are willing to negotiate with South Korea or with the United States or with the six powers on any subject any time and without any preconditions."
Earlier however, Carter on his group's website (www.theelders.org) appeared to suggest that there were preconditions for six-party talks aimed at disarmament.
"The sticking point -- and it's a big one -- is that they won't give up their nuclear program without some kind of security guarantee from the US." he said.
The North has repeatedly stated it wants an assurance the United States will not attack it, as well as a peace treaty.
Some 30,000 American troops are based in South Korea, which is technically at war with its neighbor, having only signed a truce to end the 1950-53 Korean War.
Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, also said senior North Korean
officials had "expressed deep regret ... for the loss of life of those
on the Cheonan (warship) and of the civilians who were killed on the
Yeonpyeong island", but did not apologize for last year's incidents.
The South has insisted that the North apologize for its actions,
although the North denies it sank the naval vessel. Seoul demands the
North take responsibility for the attacks if inter-Korean talks are to
make progress.
Carter added that the North would probably never admit responsibility
for the incidents, which spiked tensions on the peninsula to their
highest level in years.
Carter's visit comes as momentum builds towards a resumption of the
aid-for-disarmament talks involving the two Koreas, the United States,
China, Japan and Russia.
The former president's team also called on the international community
to provide food aid to the impoverished North saying it "was a matter of
life and death urgency".