SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Monday it was prepared to resume six-party nuclear disarmament talks without preconditions at an early date following a flurry of diplomatic activity to restart the stalled process.

A spokesman for North Korea's foreign ministry said Pyongyang and Washington had also agreed to further dialogue, after last week's first visit by a top North Korean official to the United States in four years.
""The DPRK remains unchanged in its stand to resume the six-party talks without preconditions at an early date and comprehensively implement the September 19 joint statement on the principle of simultaneous action,"" a spokesman for North Korea's foreign ministry said.
DPRK is short for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The September 19 agreement, signed in 2005, spells out a process in which North Korea will scrap its nuclear programs in exchange for economic and energy aid and diplomatic relations with the United States and Japan.
The upbeat comments were made after Washington and Seoul said it was too early to say if the contacts would immediately lead to a full-out reopening of negotiations among six countries involved in the forum.
Veteran North Korean nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-gwan travelled to the United States last week, a week after the two Koreas' nuclear envoys held two hours of talks. The meetings raised hopes for a resumption of six-party discussions.