North Korea said Friday that it understands the need to resume the stalled international talks on ending its nuclear programs, and that it agrees to work with the United States to narrow unspecified "remaining differences."
The statement from North Korea's Foreign Ministry was the first reaction from the communist nation to three days of high-level talks with US President Barack Obama's special envoy. Upon returning from North Korea on Thursday, envoy Stephen Bosworth made similar remarks in Seoul that the two sides reached common understandings on the need to restart the nuclear talks.
The North said in the statement that this week's meetings with the US "deepened the mutual understanding, narrowed their differences and found not a few common points."
Though the North stopped short of making a firm commitment to return to the negotiating table, its reaction appears to be positive and raises hope that the stalled disarmament process could resume.
