PYONGYANG, July 21 (Xinhuanet) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Monday called upon the United States to drop hostile policy toward it and hold negotiations based on equality and trust.

　　"If the United States truly wants a peaceful solution of the DPRK-US nuclear issue, it should respond to" the DPRK proposal for holding "negotiations based on equality and confidence," the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a commentary.

　　The DPRK government has put forward a "new and broad-minded" proposal to settle the DPRK-US nuclear issue at the Beijing talks in April, the commentary said. In May, it raised an "innovative" proposal to hold bilateral nuclear talks before multilateral negotiations, the commentary said.

　　The DPRK has repeatedly demanded a non-aggression treaty with the United States, the KCNA commentary said. However, Washington is still insisting on "scrapping nuclear program before dialogue" and seeking to isolate and stifle the DPRK by forming an "international siege", it noted.

　　"The nuclear issue between the DPRK and the United States is a very acute matter of 'who beats whom'. Therefore, there can be no unilateral concession or compromise forced by one side," the commentary said. "It can be settled only through negotiations based on the principles of fairness, equality and trust," it added.

　　If the United States dropped its hostile policy toward the DPRK and legally committed itself to non-aggression, the DPRK "would be ready to dispel the US concern," the commentary said. Enditem