The United States said on Tuesday that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s decision to withdraw from the six-party talks is a "serious step in the wrong direction".

"North Korea's announced threat to withdraw from the six-party talks and restart its nuclear program is a serious step in the wrong direction," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.

The spokesman urged the DPRK to "cease its provocative threats and to respect the will of the international community and to honor its international commitments and obligations."

Pyongyang announced on Tuesday that it would withdraw from the six-party talks and restore the nuclear facilities that have been under disablement process.

The DPRK will not fulfill any agreement reached in the nuclear talks any more, a spokesman from the DPRK Foreign Ministry said in a statement, in response to a UN Security Council presidential statement on its rocket launch.

Prior to the announcement by Pyongyang, the United Nations Security Council adopted a presidential statement on the DPRK's recent rocket launch, saying it was "in contravention of Security Council resolution 1718" and demanding the country "not conduct any further launch".

The six-party talks, involving the DPRK, the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia, was first held in Beijing, China in August 2003, and has made tangible progress on the issue in the following years.

The DPRK destroyed the cooling tower at its Yongbyon nuclear complex in June last year, marking a symbolic step forward towards the goal of denuclearization in the country.

(Xinhua News Agency April 15, 2009)