North Korea signalled on Monday it was seeking direct talks with the US, offering a sign the simmering crisis on the peninsula could enter a fresh phase of diplomacy.

The development puts both Washington and Seoul in a dilemma. They want North Korea to return to six-party talks about denuclearisation, in which the US and the two Koreas are joined by Russia, Japan and China. But the Communist state chafes at this framework and has said it will never return to it.