BEIJING, July 26 (Xinhuanet) -- The United States regards the democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as a sovereign state and has no intention to attack DPRK, said Christopher Hill, chief US negotiator on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, here Tuesday.    

    Hill, also US Assistant Secretary of State, made the remarks atthe opening session of the fourth round of the six-party talks, which was originally scheduled in last September.

    The DPRK regards the US hostile policy as a threat to its national security. At the previous three rounds of the talks, it has repeatedly asked the US to respect the DPRK's sovereignty and normalize political and economic relations between the two countries.

    Meanwhile,it also requested the United States to delabel DPRK as "a supporter of terrorism," lift sanctions against it, maintain peaceful coexistence with DPRK on a legal basis, and offer a "definite assurance" of non-aggression against it.

    Hill said nuclear weapons will not make the DPRK safer. On the contrary, it will prick up the tense situation in the region and threaten the development of the global non-proliferation mechanism.

    He said the six-party talks will provide DPRK a better future, and if the DPRK makes the decision to dismantle all its nuclear programs, the other five parties will make relevant responses in the principle of word-to-word and action-to-action.

    Hill also said the parties concerned had clearly claimed that they are well-prepared to settle DPRK's security concern and its energy needs.

    The United States is always committed to the six-party talks because it is not only the best way to realize denuclearization ofthe Korean Peninsula, but also provides a great platform for the six nations to settle relevant key issues in bilateral or multilateral manners, Hill said.

    Noting that the six-party talks is at a crucial moment, Hill said there may exist many different options to solve the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue but the best choice is to conduct negotiation through six-party talks.

    Avoiding problems is not a solution, he said. The United States had always hoped that the six-party talks could be resumed as early as possibly since the third round of talks in June last year.

    He said during the past year when the six-party talks was suspended, the US side had had bilateral contact with the DPRK forsix times under the framework of the six-party talks.

    Hill said the US side had made clear its key stance and opinions to the DPRK through those contacts and the United States is ready for "serious" talks under the framework of the six-party talks.

    The Korean Peninsula nuclear issue emerged in the 1990s when the United States alleged that the DPRK might have facilities used to develop nuclear weapons. But the DPRK said it has no capabilityneither intention to develop nuclear weapons and accused the U.S. of threatening DPRK's national security.

    Early this year, the new Bush administration called the DPRK an"outpost of tyranny". In return, the DPRK announced on February 10it was suspending its participation in the six-party talks on the nuclear issue for an "indefinite period." In addition, the DPRK declared that it already had self-defensive nuclear weapons.

    To find a solution to the disputes, China, DPRK, the U.S., the Republic of Korea, Russia and Japan, have held three rounds of talks in Beijing from 2003 to 2004.    Enditem