By Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - North Korea's U.N. envoy on Monday dismissed a U.N. appeal that Pyongyang return to six-nation talks aimed at ending its nuclear program but did not fully rule out resuming negotiations some time.
Speaking at the start of a two-week conference on the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which Pyongyang withdrew from in 2003, Ban called on both North Korea and Iran to return to stalled talks on their nuclear programs.
North Korea's Deputy U.N. Ambassador Pak Tok Hun swiftly rejected Ban's appeal, telling Reuters in an interview, "We will never return to the six-party talks" that include North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.
"As long as they are trying to infringe on our sovereignty, we don't see any need, any necessity to participate in the six-party talks," he said on the sidelines of NPT meeting.
Pak in subsequent answers was less specific and seemed not to rule out resuming contacts if certain conditions were met.
Asked if Pyongyang would return to the talks if the United States and other Security Council powers halted actions that Pyongyang saw as infringing on North Korea's sovereignty, Pak repeated that the hostility must end.
"The most important thing is that they should change their hostile policy towards my country," he said. "This is the main issue."
Last month, the U.N. Security Council condemned North Korea's launch of what the United States and Japan said was a long-range missile but North Korea insisted was a rocket carrying a peaceful satellite.
The Security Council called for tougher enforcement of U.N. financial sanctions and a limited trade embargo against Pyongyang, placing three large North Korean firms on a U.N. blacklist for aiding the country's nuclear and missile programs.
North Korea retaliated, not only by announcing it would boycott the six-party talks, but also by promising to restart a nuclear plant that makes arms-grade plutonium. Pyongyang tested a nuclear device in 2006.
Ban Ki-moon also called on Iran, which Western countries suspect is covertly amassing the capability to produce atomic weapons, "to re-engage in the negotiating process" with the five permanent Security Council members and Germany.
Iran does not want the conference to focus too much on its nuclear program, which it insists is entirely peaceful.
Four working papers prepared for the NPT meeting by Iran and obtained by Reuters show that Tehran is redoubling efforts to draw attention away from its own program.
It wants instead to turn the spotlight on Washington for what it says are clear breaches of the NPT for aiding Israel's and India's nuclear programs.
(Editing by Alan Elsner)
