U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday that North Korea is throwing up "smoke screens" in its boycott of the six-party talks regarding its nuclear weapons program.

Rice said in an interview with Reuters that “the issue is whether the North Koreans come to the table prepared to make a strategic choice" to give up its nuclear program.

Referring to North Korea’s demand that the US abandon its “hostile” policy as a precondition to resume the multilateral talks, Rice said that the North Koreans are throwing up smoke screens.

She did not use the phrase "no hostile intent," which apparently has special significance for Pyongyang. However, when asked if she would say the phrase and rule out any U.S. hostile intent, Rice said, she would not play “the North Koreans' game.”

Rice is scheduled to make a weeklong trip to Asia next week for talks expected to focus on North Korea's nuclear activities.

Her trip next week includes stops in South Korea, Japan and China, all participants in the stalled six-party talks. The other participants in the talks are the United States, Russia and North Korea.

Rice said she will hold discussions with Asian officials on "what other steps need to be taken" to resolve the 29-month nuclear dispute.