N. Korea wants change in U.S. policy

? North Korea said Saturday it was willing to abandon its nuclear weapons programs, but it demanded a change in American policy as a California congressman critical of the communist state’s human rights records visited Pyongyang.

The statement, which echoed the North’s earlier stance, appeared to be timed for a visit by Rep. Tom Lantos, the ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee.

“Our consistent stance is to denuclearize the Korean peninsula and resolve the problem through dialogue,” said a spokesman of North Korea’s Foreign Ministry. “If the United States really wants to resolve the nuclear problem through dialogue, it should show through action that it is giving up a hostile policy aimed at toppling our system, and take the road toward coexistence.”