There will be "no condition" if Christopher Hill, US assistant secretary of state, is willing to visit the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), DPRK's Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Su Hon said here Thursday.
Choe told reporters at the DPRK's mission to the United Nations that his country will not impose any conditions on a visit by Hill, who is also US chief negotiator at six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.
"If Christopher Hill is willing to visit my country with an intention of resolving the nuclear issue, then we would always welcome him," Choe said.
"There will be no condition if he is willing to come to my country with a view to resolving the nuclear issue and other issues of his concern," he added.
Choe admitted that the attitude of the United States toward the DPRK has changed a little recently.
"It is clearly stipulated in the joint statement adopted in the six-party talks that the United States pledged itself to recognize the sovereignty of the DPRK and the coexistence with the DPRK," he noted.
"This is different from what the United States has been saying, " he said, adding that in the past years the United States has been slandering the DPRK harshly, "but recently it did less."
Choe also stressed that the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue should be resolved on the basis of the joint statement, and on the principle of "action for action."
"All the issues can be discussed at the forthcoming talks," he emphasized. "All the issues should be resolved on the basis of simultaneous actions."
Choe, who is here attending the 60th session of the UN General Assembly, said he had told UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Wednesday that the DPRK requested the United Nations to end humanitarian assistance by the end of this year.
"The Secretary-General expressed full understanding on the issue," he said, adding that Annan promised to make positive efforts to provide development assistance to the DPRK.
The DPRK government decided to conclude the assistance and is prepared to provide food to all its people because the humanitarian situation in the DPRK has been improved considerably, and the farming of this year is good, he said.
"Another reason is certain countries are trying to politicizing the humanitarian assistance," Choe stressed. "That is definitely one of the reasons why we decided to stop the humanitarian assistance."
"Particularly the United States attempted to politicize the humanitarian assistance by linking it to human rights issue," he added.