The president of the U.N. General Assembly says he received a positive message from North Korea on resuming the six-way nuclear talks during his recent visit to the communist state.
Jean Ping made the comment Wednesday when he met with Unification Minister Chung Dong-young in Seoul. During the talks, Ping told Chung that Pyongyang had asked him to convey its intent to peacefully co-exist with Washington.
In response, Chung said that Seoul had already clearly stated that it seeks neither the containment nor collapse of the Stalinist regime, adding that Seoul and Washington had reiterated their commitment to peacefully resolving the ongoing nuclear standoff during last week's bilateral summit.
Following his meeting with Chung, the U.N. official sat down for talks with Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon. He is scheduled to pay a courtesy call on President Roh Moo-hyun on Thursday.