Friday, December 16 2005 15:37 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Jeju (South Korea): North Korea pledged today (Dec 16, 2005) to implement an agreement reached in September on ending its nuclear weapons drive but made no promise to return to six-nation disarmament talks.

The communist country said it would cooperate actively to end the nuclear standoff peacefully, according to a joint statement at the end of three days of high-level talks between the two Koreas.

"Sharing the view that the (September) agreement must be implemented as soon as possible for the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, South and North Korea agreed to cooperate actively for the peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue," it said.

But North Korea stubbornly refused to respond to repeated requests from South Korea to agree to the early resumption of disarmament talks grouping the two Koreas, China, the US, Japan and Russia. North Korea had insisted it would talk only with the United States about the nuclear standoff.

The North said Sunday that stalled six-party talks last held in November would be suspended indefinitely because Washington had imposed economic sanctions on it over allegations of illicit financial dealings, including counterfeiting and money laundering.

Earlier, North Korean delegates staged a silent protest to press a demand that South Koreans visiting North Korea be allowed to pay homage to the Stalinist regime.

The 20-minute protest took place in the lobby of a hotel on the southern island of Jeju where the two Koreas have held three days of cabinet-level talks led by Unification Minister Chung Dong-Young, Seoul's chief delegate, and his North Korean counterpart Kwon Ho-Ung. The next round of cabinet-level talks will be held in March in Pyongyang.