North Korea’s chief negotiator to the six-way nuclear talks says his country is willing to prove it does not have a uranium-based nuclear program.

In an interview with CNN Sunday, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan said that the North does not have any uranium-based weapons program and that Pyongyang is fully prepared to provide the requisite evidence of the fact if deemed necessary.

Kim stressed that the North is wiling to provide such evidence to make clear its commitment to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

He also said the North is open to adopting "strict supervision" of its nuclear facilities, emphasizing Pyongyang's willingness to return to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and fully abide by safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

However, the North Korean official was quick to add that his government cannot accept Washington’s calls to abandon its pursuit of a civilian nuclear program, saying his country is in urgent need of electricity that Pyongyang hopes to secure with nuclear power plants.

The North's insistence on a civilian nuclear power program has so far been one of the most contentious issues at the six-party nuclear talks in Beijing currently in recess and set to resume in the week of August 29.