North Korea vowed on Tuesday that it would return to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) after the US provides it with light water reactors (LWRs) for generating power.

"We will return to the NPT and sign the Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA and comply with it immediately upon the US provision of LWRs, a basis of confidence-building, to us," a spokesperson of the North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The statement, which came after the second phase of the fourth-round six-party talks ended in Beijing on Monday, said North Korea would not need a single nuclear weapon if its relations with the US were normalized.

"What is most essential is, therefore, for the US to provide LWRs to North Korea as early as possible as evidence proving the former's substantial recognition of the latter's nuclear activity for a peaceful purpose," he added.

The spokesperson stressed that the basis of finding a solution to the nuclear issue between North Korea and the US is to wipe out their distrust and a physical groundwork for building mutual confidence is none other than the US provision of LWRs to the North.

"The US should not even dream of the issue of North Korea's dismantlement of its nuclear deterrent before providing LWRs. This is our just and consistent stand as solid as a deeply rooted rock," the spokesperson said.

"We have so far shaped our policies toward the US hardliners and will do so in the future, too," he added.

The spokesperson stressed that the US should really move toward the phase of "action for action."

If the US insists on "North Korea's dismantlement of nuclear weapons before the provision of LWRs," he said, "there will be no change in the nuclear issue between North Korea and the US and its consequences will be very serious and complicated."

(Xinhua News Agency September 20, 2005)