PYONGYANG, Jan. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- The Democratic People's Republicof Korea (DPRK) on Tuesday urged the United States to lift sanctions imposed on it in order to resume the six-party talks.

    "It is unthinkable for the DPRK to negotiate the nuclear issue with the US who's seeking to isolate and stifle the DPRK while being exposed to sanctions," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a commentary.

    "The financial sanctions and pressure aiming to bring down the DPRK's system is contrary to the purport of the joint statement of the fourth round of the six-party talks which calls for mutual respect and co-existence," it added.

    The first phase of the fifth round of six-party talks concluded in November in Beijing. China, the DPRK, the United States, Russia,South Korea and Japan agreed to reopen the second phase of fifth round of the talks at an early date.

    The United States froze the US-based assets of eight DPRK companies in late October, accusing them of proliferating weapons of mass destruction.

    Then, Pyongyang refused to resume the talks under the US financial sanctions.

    In response to the US claim that the financial sanctions against Pyongyang had nothing to do with the six-party talks and they were making efforts to resume the talks, the KCNA refuted the United States tried to lay hurdles in the way of the talks through unjust sanctions and pressure.

    The US sanctions and pressure upon the DPRK are the main obstacle to the process of talks, it added. Enditem