SEOUL, Oct 22: The head of the US team that visited North Korea said on Saturday the full access it got to a sensitive nuclear site was a sign of Pyongyang’s openness before new six-nation talks on its atomic ambitions next month.

“North Koreans allowed my delegation to visit the Yongbyon nuclear facility,” said US politician Bill Richardson.

“I believe that was a show of transparency. It bodes well for the six-party talks that are upcoming in Beijing,” he said, adding that he thought the next round of talks would take place in the first week of next month.

Speaking in Tokyo on Friday, Mr Richardson said the Pyongyang government was ‘sending signals of wanting to engage’ and had indicated it would rejoin the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, which it quit in 2002.—AFP