North Korea sees peace pact with US as key to disarmament

"A peace accord should be concluded between (North Korea) and the US if the nuclear issue on the peninsula is to be settled," the ruling communist party newspaper Rodong Sinmun said in a commentary.

Such an accord is "one of the most reasonable and practical ways" to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons, it said.

The newspaper urged Washington to roll back its "hostile" policy, insisting this policy had compelled Pyongyang to acquire a nuclear deterrent.

The commentary relayed by the North's official news agency followed its conditional offer last week to return to six-party nuclear disarmament talks.

Leader Kim Jong-Il told visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao his country was ready to return to the talks it quit in April, but only after direct negotiations with the United States to end "hostile relations".