to resolve nuclear conflict Seoul, April 21, SPA -- North Korea said Thursday thatthe international standoff over its atomic weapons programcould be resolved if the United States abandoned allegedplans to overthrow its communist regime with a nuclearattack. "If the United States shows sincerity by its actions _such as changing its policy of squashing to death bynuclear (weapons) and assuring peaceful coexistence _ thenuclear issue between (North Korea) and the United Statescan be resolved smoothly," the North's Communist Partynewspaper Rodong Sinmun said in an editorial. The United States has repeatedly said it has no intentionto attack the North, and has sought to convince Pyongyangto return to international disarmament talks that have beenon hold since last June. North Korea said in February itwould indefinitely boycott the talks and claimed it hadnuclear weapons. The editorial, carried by the North's Korean Central NewsAgency, said a change of U.S. policy would "provide agauge whether the United States is serious about resolvingthe nuclear issue and a nuclear-free (Korean) peninsula."The North also reiterated that it possessed atomic weaponsfor self-defense. Meanwhile, a North Korean diplomat said in an interviewThursday that his government would treat U.N. sanctionsover its nuclear weapons program as tantamount to adeclaration of war. "If the United States refers the nuclear issue to theU.N. Security Council and that means sanctions, we havealready clarified that we will regard sanctions as adeclaration of war," So Chol, an officer in the NorthKorean Foreign Ministry's European department, toldAssociated Press Television News in the North Koreancapital.--more1319 Local Time 1019 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/256842