N Korea to rejoin nuclear talks
Condoleezza Rice with Chinese PM Hu Jintao in Beijing
Ms Rice met China's prime minister on her previous visit
North Korea says it has agreed to return to talks about its nuclear weapons programme later this month.
The secretive communist state's announcement came as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in the Chinese capital, Beijing, for talks.
She has been looking to revive the six-nation talks - involving the US, the two Koreas, Russia, China and Japan - which broke down last year.
China is one of North Korea's few allies in the region.
The BBC's Brenda Marshall says North Korea's decision is not entirely unexpected.
It has consistently blamed what it calls the US hostile attitude towards it for the talks impasse but what seems to have happened now is that North Korea's sensitivities have been mollified, our correspondent says.
In the view of Pyongyang, Washington has clarified that it recognises the North as a sovereign state, will not invade it and will hold bilateral talks within the framework of the six-party talks.
