North Korea wants talks with Washington over its apparent preparations for a missile test, Yonhap news agency said today.
Yonhap quoted Han Song-ryol, North Korea's deputy chief of mission at the United Nations in New York, as saying that Pyongyang had a right to develop and test missiles but it would like to ease the situation through dialogue.
"We know that the US is concerned about our missile test launch," Mr Han said in a telephone conversation with Yonhap.
North Korea's deputy chief at the UN
"Our position is to solve this situation through discussions."
The secretive state, which often uses its official media to indicate its policy preferences, ran a story on its KCNA news agency today about prominent figures in Washington advocating direct US-North Korean talks.
Seoul, Washington and Tokyo have said there is evidence North Korea may test-fire its long-range Taepodong-2 missile, a step they have said would present a grave danger to regional security.
Stock traders in Seoul said the possibility of a North Korean test was unsettling the market but it did not have a major impact, with the main share index moving only slightly lower, and worries about regional strains faded on Asian currency markets.
The United States has activated its ground-based interceptor missile-defence system amid concerns the North will go ahead with a launch, a US defence official said yesterday.
Pentagon officials declined to say whether they would try to shoot down any missile, but other US officials have said that is unlikely, assuming the launch is aimed at open water.
North Korea shocked the world in 1998 when it fired a missile, part of which flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean. Pyongyang trumpeted that as a satellite launch. The United States has said it would be a provocation if North Korea launched its most recently developed missile, which some experts say could reach Alaska.
North Korea has adhered to a moratorium on ballistic missile launches since 1999, but Mr Han said Pyongyang was entitled to develop, deploy, test and export missiles.
"It is not right for others to tell us to do this or that about our sovereign right," he said.