North Korea has confirmed it has agreed to participate in multilateral talks on its nuclear development program.

The official news agency, KCNA, says North Korea made the proposal Thursday during talks in New York with U.S. officials. It says the talks would include the two Koreas, Japan, China, Russia and the United States. No timing or place for the talks is certain yet, but U.S. officials have said that meetings could begin in Beijing by September.

North Korea's decision fulfills a key demand of the United States. The Bush administration has said the only way to end the crisis surrounding North Korea's nuclear program is through talks with Pyongyang's neighbors and the major nuclear powers.

For the past nine months, North Korea has been insisting that it would only take part in direct talks with the United States. China has tried to organize a new round of negotiations for several weeks. The diplomatic activity comes amid increasing evidence that North Korea is restarting the nuclear weapons program it agreed to freeze in 1994.