S. Korea urges N. Korea to show 'sincerity' for six-party talks: FM

SEOUL, May 27 (Yonhap) -- Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se on Monday called for North Korea to demonstrate its "sincerity" through action, in response to an apparent offer by North Korea saying it was open to dialogue over its nuclear weapons program. Yun made the remarks days after the North Korean leader's special envoy, Choe Ryong-hae, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday. During the meeting, Xi urged the North to return to the long-stalled six-nation talks on Pyongyang's nuclear standoff. "Our stance is that there should not be talks for the sake of talks and North Korea must show its sincerity to the international community by implementing its past denuclearization pledges," Yun told reporters. Choe delivered a personal letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to Xi. Although China's state media said the letter contained Kim's intention to rejoin the six-party talks, the North's media has made no mention of such intentions. After Choe made the three-day visit to China last week, North Korea showed signs of backing away from confrontation with the international community, though skepticism still persists about its true intentions. kdh@yna.co.kr (END)