Japan's Sankei Shimbun reported that North Korea has requested China to guarantee the US-DPRK bilateral talks as a condition for its return to the six-party nuclear talks.

The Sankei Shimbun quoted an informant in Washington DC as saying that Pyongyang laid out its conditions for its return to the nuclear talks. North Korean requested China provide economic support to North Korea and guarantee the US-DPRK talks, as well as side with North Korea during the six-way talks.

The informant predicts that China is likely to accept the demands because China has been asking the United States to hold the bilateral talks within the framework of the six-nation talks.