"Chairman Kim Jong-Il's remarks reaffirmed my earlier belief that Pyongyang has not shut up the door for dialogue," Ban told journalists.

"The fact that Chairman Kim Jong-Il himself said North Korea did not reject the six-party talks has left us one more reason to be optimistic (about the possibility of Pyongyang returning to the six-nation talks)," he said.

Ban also said Pyongyang's February 10 statement that it has manufactured nuclear weapons should be taken as an "unverified unilateral assertion" aimed at gaining the upper hand in future negotiation.

Kim Jong-Il said North Korea would "as ever stand for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and its position to seek a peaceful solution to the issue through dialogue remains unchanged," Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Tuesday.

While meeting with China's top envoy, Wang Jiarui, he noted that the North has never opposed the six-party talks but made every possible effort for their success, KCNA said.

"We will go to the negotiating table anytime if there are mature conditions for the six-party talks thanks to the concerted efforts of the parties concerned in the future," he was quoted as telling Wang by KCNA.

He expressed, however, the hope that the United States would "show trustworthy sincerity and move."

The comments were the first from the reclusive leader since the Stalinist state's foreign ministry via official media announced nearly two weeks ago that it was suspending talks indefinitely and had nuclear weapons.

In a speech before foreign investors Tuesday, Ban said Pyongyang's February 10 statement was "not something new" and "should be taken as rather unverified unilateral assertion" intended as part of its typical "brinksmanship."

He said the Pyongyang statement still identified the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula as a goal of the Pyongyang regime while repeating its commitment to a peaceful end to the stand-off through dialogue.

"In light of these, chances are that North Korea's intention is to gain the upper hand before eventually returning to dialogue table," he said in the speech.

"I expect China, the host of the talks, will also step up efforts to pursuade North Korea to come back to the dialogue table," he said.

"I am convinced that North Korea's statement should not distract us from pursuing our objective -- North Korean leadership must make a strategic decision to dismantle nuclear programmes including the uranium enrichment programme once and for all," he said.

The nuclear standoff erupted in October 2002 when the United States accused North Korea of operating a weapons programme based on highly enriched uranium, violating a 1994 arms control agreement.

The last set of six-way talks -- among the two Koreas, Russia, China, Japan, and the United States -- took place in June last year but produced few results.

North Korea shunned a fourth round set for last September, complaining of "hostile" US policies.