The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is ready for dialogue or confrontation with the United States following Barack Obama's election to the presidency, a Pyongyang diplomat said as talks over dismantling the nation's nuclear weapons program continued.

The remarks by nuclear negotiator Ri Gun are the country's first public reaction to Obama's election. Ri spoke on Thursday in New York after a meeting with Sung Kim, the US special envoy to the international negotiations on Pyongyang's nuclear programs.

"We have dealt with various US administrations, including an administration that sought dialogue with us and an administration that attempted to isolate and contain us," Ri told reporters.

The DPRK "is ready to deal with" whatever policy the incoming administration implements, Ri said.

"We will have dialogue if (the US) seeks dialogue. If it seeks isolation, we will stand against it," he said later on Thursday after a dinner meeting with the chief US nuclear envoy, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill.

Obama Iraq plan backed

A senior Iraqi official on Thursday explicitly backed Barack Obama's plans to withdraw combat troops from the country by mid-2010, Baghdad's clearest endorsement yet of Obama's exit strategy.

The outgoing administration of President George W. Bush presented Iraq with a "final text" of a pact accepting Baghdad's demand that troops leave in three years, but Baghdad said it wanted more talks on questions that were still unresolved.

Asked to comment on Obama's pledge to pull combat troops out within 16 months of taking office, National Security Adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie told Al-Arabiya television: "We think 16 months is good."

Iraqi officials were reluctant to publicly endorse Obama's plan while the campaign was under way. Obama's opponent John McCain - and the Bush administration - opposed setting a timeline, although the administration relented in recent months.

"Obama's presence at the head of the US administration will give new blood, new thoughts and new plans. We want to be in a fundamental alliance with the United States," Rubaie said.

The Bush administration has agreed to a 2011 withdrawal date in a draft security pact which would replace a UN mandate that expires at the end of this year.

Agencies

(China Daily 11/08/2008 page11)