Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan says North Korea is apparently attempting to use the six-party nuclear talks to divert global attention from the Cheonan sinking.

Yu told a South Korean TV show that the U.S. has strongly expressed its unwillingness to be diverted to the six-party talks citing the U.S. State Department's release of a strong statement.

In addition, he says the North has suddenly proposed holding the six-party talks and changed agenda in demanding the conclusion of a peace treaty before discussing its nuclear program. Pyongyang is also demanding annulment of a U.N. Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on the North.

Yu says this is not the time to hold the six-party talks under such conditions set by the North.

He says all parties to the six-way talks agree on the utility of the dialogue for the North's denuclearization, but urges Pyongyang's clear demonstration of its commitment to dismantling its nuclear program if it wants to return to the bargaining table.