North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations, Han Song-ryol, says Pyongyang is willing to attend talks over its nuclear arms program if the United States promises peaceful coexistence and non-interference in the North's internal affairs.

South Korea's Joong-Ang newspaper quoted Mr. Han Saturday as saying Pyongyang would return to talks "in any form" if the United States drops its hostile policy toward the North.

Mr. Han singled out Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's designation of the North as an "outpost of tyranny" as representative of U.S. foreign policy.

Beijing sent the head of the Chinese Communist Party's international department, Wang Jiarui, to North Korea Saturday, where he is expected to urge Pyongyang to rejoin six-party talks over its nuclear program.