The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s representatives at the United Nations will contact U.S. officials soon to ascertain the "true intention" of recent remarks by U.S. President Bush on security assurances for DPRK, a diplomatic source with close ties to Pyongyang said in Tokyo on Thursday.

The source said DPRK, which has described Bush's most recent assurances as "laughable," wanted more details before deciding whether to take part in a new round of six-nation talks on its nuclear weapons program.

Bush, shifting policy in an apparent attempt to re-energize talks with North Korea, offered Pyongyang unspecified security assurances for the first time this week but ruled out meeting its demand for a non-aggression treaty.

"The representatives in New York will contact American government officials soon," said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"The North wants to know the true intention of Bush's remarks," the source said.

He said North Korea would decide whether to resume talks on its nuclear weapons program after the planned behind-the-scenes contacts.

The United States, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan are seeking to draw North Korea back to the negotiating table but Pyongyang has made no firm commitments.

The six countries held an inconclusive first round of talks in Beijing in August.

Washington has said it is willing to negotiate some kind of multilateral security guarantee short of a treaty with North Korea if it abandons its nuclear arms program.

A top aide to Bush said this week that consultations on the security guarantee were just beginning and it would take time to come up with a formal proposal for North Korea.

Any deal is almost certain to require agreement from North Korea to allow inspections by the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), whose inspectors were expelled from North Korea early this year.

(China Daily October 23, 2003)