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SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – North Korea called on Wednesday for unconditional talks with the South but the United States suggested it must first stop provoking its neighbor, recommit to a 2005 nuclear pact and take responsibility for recent attacks.
It was uncertain whether the South would heed the North's call less than two months after the North Korean military on November 23 bombarded a South Korean island off disputed waters, killing four people.
The artillery fire, and the March 2010 sinking of a South Korean corvette blamed on the North despite its denials, have raised tensions in Asia and added pressure to try to resume talks with the North on curbing its nuclear programs.
"We demand unconditional talks between responsible authorities (of the South and the North)," the North's KCNA news agency quoted a statement, which, in an unusual step, was issued collectively by the North's government, the ruling Workers' Party of Korea and other organizations.
"We are prepared to meet with anyone regardless of the past if it is someone who is willing to go hand-on-hand with us to the future," it added.
It further proposed "discontinuing heaping slander and calumnies on each other and refraining from any act of provoking each other in order to create an atmosphere of improving inter-Korean ties."
While the North's statement seemed conciliatory, the United States made clear it first wanted Pyongyang to take action.
"We're open to dialogue but it's not just for North Korea to say 'OK, fine we'll come talk'," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters after the U.S. and Chinese foreign ministers met in Washington.
"There are things that North Korea has to show both South Korea and the United States that it is prepared to have a sustained and constructive dialogue," Crowley said.
"Committing itself that there will be no further provocations certainly would be one step, demonstrating that it is prepared to move forward on its commitments under the 2005 joint statement would be another step," he added.
Under that pact, North Korea pledged to abandon its nuclear programs but the country's reclusive and often unpredictable leaders have made such commitments in the past in agreements that have subsequently unraveled.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi of China discussed the issue among others during a two-hour meeting to prepare for Chinese President Hu Jintao's January 19 state visit to Washington.
The United States has long sought China's help to persuade North Korea, which has twice conducted nuclear tests, to give up its nuclear programs.
The U.S. envoy for North Korea policy, Stephen Bosworth, met South Korean officials in Seoul before heading to China. Washington hopes talks on dismantling North Korea's nuclear work can start soon, though a breakthrough may prove elusive.