In a statement issued by the North Korean foreign ministry it said it was willing to address concerns raised by Washington in an effort to end a year-long standoff over its nuclear program, if the United State reciprocated.

"As the DPRK (North Korea) declared more than once, it is ready to abandon in practice its nuclear program which the US is concerned about at the phase where its hostile policy is fundamentally dropped and its threat to us removed in practice," the statement said.

It said North Korea could consider US President George W. Bush's offer of a written security guarantee instead of a non-aggression treaty initially demanded by Pyongyang.

It was also willing to alter the wording of an earlier peace proposal, which had been rejected by the US partly because it called for a 'principle of simultaneous actions' of non-aggression by other nations it considers a threat.

North Korea has said solving the crisis depended on whether Washington "is ready to accept the proposal for a package solution based on the principle of 'simultaneous actions', which commands the support and sympathy of all the participants of the talks."

The principle, rejected by the US, was put forward by North Korea at six-party talks, also involving Japan, South Korea, China and Russia, in August in Beijing.

Sunday's statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency is seen as the strongest indication that Pyongyang has dropped its long-standing demand for a non-aggression treaty.

It comes as diplomatic efforts intensify to bring North Korea to a new round of six-way talks to end the crisis sparked by Pyongyang's admission it had begun enriching uranium in contravention of a 1994 treaty with the US.

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived here Sunday for talks that will include the nuclear issue while US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly arrived in Tokyo to meet Japanese officials.

North Korea agreed in principle to attend a second round of talks during a meeting earlier this month in Pyongyang between Chinese parliamentary leader Wu Bangguo and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il.

The Stalinist state had previously indicated it had no interest in further negotiations following the inconclusive first round of discussions in Beijing.

Since the nuclear crisis erupted, North Korea has demanded a non-aggression pact with Washington. Bush has refused this, but last month proposed a written guarantee instead of a formal treaty.

The North said last month it would consider Bush's offer.

North Korea wants the United States to provide a security guarantee with economic aid, while Washington wants a complete and verifiable dismantling of Pyongyang's nuclear program.

The Washington Times, quoting North Korean diplomats in Geneva, said last week that Pyongyang is willing to give up its nuclear program, allow annual inspections, and stop testing and exporting missiles, subject to certain guarantees.

The diplomats told the US daily that Pyongyang expected written security guarantees and compensation to help the already financially-crippled nation make up for economic losses incurred by closing two nuclear power plants.

South Korean officials have said a new round of six-nation talks would likely be held before the end of the year.

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