NKorea responded to US it has no uranium enrichment program

North Korea on Tuesday strongly disputed allegations it has a uranium enrichment program, describing the claim as a U.S. "sheer fabrication".

The denial, in a commentary by North Korea's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper, came hours before six-nation nuclear disarmament talks resumed in Beijing, after a month's hiatus, to try to get the North to abandon its nuclear programs.

The nuclear row began in 2002 following U.S. allegations that the North was secretly running a uranium enrichment program in violation of its earlier promise not to pursue atomic weapons, the AP reminds.

"We state clearly that we don't have any kind of uranium enrichment program at all," said Tuesday's commentary, which was carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency. "The U.S. talk about the DPRK's uranium enrichment program is no more than a sheer fabrication."

DPRK is a short for North Korea's official name, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The North also harshly criticized Washington for trying to give the impression that the communist country is to blame for the delay in resolving the nuclear problem.

The North, however, reiterated that denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula remains a "consistent policy and ultimate goal" of the country.

The six-party talks involve the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia.