Related story: DPRK top leader discusses nuclear issues with S. Korean official

    SEOUL, June 17 (Xinhuanet) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is willing to return to the six-party nuclear talks in July, if the United States recognizes and respects Pyongyang, said South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Friday upon his arrival in South Korea from his Pyongyang visit.

S. Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young (L) smiles with DPRK top leader Kim Jong Il (C) as former S. Korean intelligence chief Lim Dong-won looks on in Pyongyang June 17.

    Television footage showed, Chung, surrounded by scores of reporters, read a brief statement outside an entrance of the Incheon International Airport.

    "(National Defense Commission) Chairman Kim Jong Il said the DPRK is willing to return to the six-party talks even in July, if the US surely recognizes and respects (the DPRK)," Chung said, adding Kim said it needs further detailed negotiations between the DPRK and the US over the resumption of the six-party talks.

    Chung also quoted Kim Jong Il as saying that the inter-Korean agreement on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula remains "valid" and the DPRK has never given up the nuclear talks.

    Earlier Friday, the DPRK top leader met and had lunch with Chung which lasted about five hours.

S. Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young (L) poses with DPRK top leader Kim Jong Il (R) in Pyongyang June 17.

    Chung led a 40-member South Korean government delegation to Pyongyang on Tuesday for a joint celebration held there to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the inter-Korean summit between South Korean former President Kim Dae-jung and the DPRK top leader Kim Jong Il in June 2000.

    South Korea and the DPRK ratified the Declaration on Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in February 1992.

    The recent nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula came in October 2002.

    China, the DPRK, the United States, Russia, South Korea and Japan have convened three rounds of six-party nuclear talks in Beijing, making efforts to peacefully resolve the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

    However, the fourth round of the multilateral talks failed to be convened as the DPRK refused to attend the talks, citing US hostile policy.

    During his stay in Pyongyang, Chung also held meetings with KimYong Nam, president of the DPRK Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, Kim Ki Nam, vice chairman of the DPRK Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland. Enditem