The United States said Thursday that it was encouraged by reports that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has agreed in principle to attend a new round of six-way talks on the nuclear issue.

"We are encouraged by the reports we have seen that North Korea (DPRK) has agreed in principle to continue six-party talks," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters, referring to the six-way talks held in Beijing, China, in August, which involved China, the DPRK, the United States, South Korea, Japan and Russia.

"The president (George W. Bush) has made it very clear that the multilateral or multi-party process provides the best hope for achieving our shared objectives for getting North Korea (DPRK) to abandon her nuclear ambitions," the spokesman said.

Responding to a question, McClellan reiterated that the United States will "work through the multilateral framework on providing some sort of security assurance."

But he stressed that Pyongyang "must" end its alleged nuclear weapons program "in a verifiable and irreversible way."

China and the DPRK on Thursday agreed in principle to continue the six-party talks on the nuclear issue. The agreement was reached during the talks between Kim Jong Il, general-secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defense Commission of the DPRK, and China's top legislator Wu Bangguo.

(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2003)