"The North Korea side does not oppose and has not given up on the six party talks. In the days coming, if the conditions are ripe, North Korea is willing to participate in the talks at any time," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao quoted Pak as telling Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

"North Korea's position on realizing a nuclear free Korean peninsula and resolving the nuclear issues through talks has not changed at all," Pak said in his talks with Wen at the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing.

Pak's six-day visit to China comes a day after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on Beijing to put more pressure on the Stalinist regime to return to the stalled talks as Washington was considering "other options" if Pyongyang refused to negotiate.

North Korea responded by saying it had increased its nuclear arsenal in preparation for a preemptive invasion by the United States, Yonhap news agency quoted the North Korean Central Broadcasting Station as saying late Monday.

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