Seoul has welcomed North Korea's decision to return to talks on its controversial nuclear programme, expressing hope Sunday that a fresh round of the six-way talks might produce a settlement to curb North Korea's development of nuclear weapons, dpa reported. "We welcome North Korea's decision, but we stress that nations participating in the six-way talks must produce substantial progress through in-depth talks so that it can fulfil its ultimate goal to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula," South Korea's deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon said in a statement. North Korea said on Saturday in a statement carried by its official KCNA news agency that its goal in returning to the talks is to denuclearize the Korean peninsula. The talks, involving the two Koreas, Russia, Japan, China and the U.S., stalled 13 months ago and are due to resume from July 25. Korean media commented that Seoul's recent offer of an incentive package for the North may have convinced Pyongyang to return to the talks. --More 2231 Local Time 1931 GMT
