WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that Washington wanted to resume six-nation nuclear talks with North Korea and urged the world to not "give in" to the North's "unpredictable behaviour."
"We are prepared to resume the six-party talks," Clinton told lawmakers, adding North Korea had not shown any willingness to resume those stalled negotiations on its nuclear program.
The North announced this month it would boycott the six-nation disarmament talks after the U.N. Security Council approved a call to tighten existing sanctions on the reclusive state to punish Pyongyang for its April 5 launch of a long-range rocket.
In addition, the North said it would restart a plant that makes bomb-grade plutonium and threatened war with South Korea if it joined a U.S. initiative to halt the proliferation of illicit weapons.
Clinton said the world needed to remain tough against North Korea.
"We have to be strong, patient and consistent and not give in to the kind of back and forth and the unpredictable behaviour of the North Korean regime," said Clinton at a hearing of the House of Representatives foreign affairs committee.
(Reporting by Sue Pleming; editing by Philip Barbara)
