Such skepticism from the North's foreign ministry spokesman came after a third round of talks ended in Beijing in June without tangible progress. A new round is due by the end of September.

The spokesman told the state-run Korean Central News Agency a series of tough US stances on the nuclear stand-off "stuns and disappoints" Pyongyang.

"It is clear that there would be nothing to expect even if the DPRK (North Korea) sits at the negotiating table with the US under the present situation," the spokesman told the agency monitored here.

He hinted that Pyongyang might fail to attend a working-group meeting to prepare for new talks, if Washington keeps refusing to reward the freezing of North Korean nuclear facilities while toughening terms and conditions.

"The US has destroyed itself the foundation for the talks, making it impossible for the DPRK to go to the forthcoming meeting of the working group."

But the spokesman fell short of threatening that North Korea would scupper the preparatory meeting or the full-session talks, saying Pyongyang would "make sustained efforts for the peaceful settlement" to the issue.

The stand-off over North Korea's quest for nuclear weapons erupted in October 2002 when the United States accused Pyongyang of operating a nuclear weapons program based on enriched uranium, violating the 1994 nuclear freeze of its separate plutonium producing program.

Pyongyang has denied running the uranium-based program, but has again fired up its once-mothballed plutonium-based program.

Little progress has been made at the previous three rounds of talks which brought together the United States, the two Koreas, China, Japan and Russia in Beijing in an effort to resolve the impasse.

US intelligence authorities say North Korea is believed to possess at least one or two nuclear bombs.

WAR.WIRE