"According to our information, the fifth round of the six-way talks could open in the second week of November, beginning on the 7th," the ministry said in a press release.
The latest round of the six-nation talks on the North Korean nuclear program yielded a final statement on September 19 which confirmed North Korea's right to conduct peaceful nuclear research. Pyongyang in turn pledged to give up its nuclear weapons program and to rejoin the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT).
But, after the document was adopted, North Korea said it would end its nuclear program only after the United States built a light-water nuclear reactor in the country, referring to a 1994 agreement with the United States.
The construction of a light-water reactor started under the deal but was suspended when the Bush administration came to power. Washington's argument was that North Korea was not a part of the NPT.
