Seoul: South Korea said on April 14 that North Korea had signalled it was ready for multilateral talks to resolve the six-month-old nuclear crisis.

In its first official statement since North Korea said on April 12 it was ready for talks with the United States under any format, South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun's office said the move showed North Korea was complying with international efforts to resolve the crisis and was ready to accept dialogue.

"The government considers this as an indication that North Korea will accept multilateral talks on resolving its nuclear issue," it said in a statement.

It added that the North Korean statement shows "that North Korea appears to be creating a favourable atmosphere for dialogue while complying with efforts by our government and the international community to solve the nuclear issue through dialogue".