North Korea is ready to resume six-party talks on its nuclear program but must maintain its readiness in the face of joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises, a senior envoy in Geneva said on Thursday.

So Se Pyong, the Democratic People¡¯s Republic of Korea¡¯s (DPRK) ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, told Reuters that his country was not planning a nuclear or missile test.

In a wide-ranging interview, he said that reports about the ill health of its leader, Kim Jong Un, were ¡°fabricated rumors¡± and that it was not clear whether the United States was willing to negotiate the release of three detained Americans.