Japan is not qualified to participate in the six-party talks as it does not wish to see any progress of the talks, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) of North Korea said in a commentary.

The commentary said the settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula would leave Japan stripped of one of its major pretexts for realizing its militarist goal to become the leader of Asia.

For this reason, Japan is resorting to every conceivable means to scuttle the talks, it said.

The current round of the six-party talks on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula was adjourned on Thursday. Top Chinese envoy to the six-party talks Wu Dawei said it would restart soon.

Also on Thursday, Wu said in a Chairman's Statement that the involved parties agreed they would continue to advance the six-party talks, and reaffirmed that they will faithfully carry out their commitments of the Sept. 19 joint statement and the Feb.13 joint document.

The talks involve North Korea, South Korea, China, the United States, Japan and Russia.

(Xinhua News Agency March 27, 2007)