North Korean state media has raised the possibility that the isolated country could “establish a new relationship” with the United States.
It comes a day before North Korean leader Kim Jong-un meets US President Donald Trump for historic talks.
The comments mark a shift in tone from North Korea after decades of animosity towards the US.
Meanwhile Mr Trump has said he has a “good feeling” about the much-anticipated summit.
Both leaders arrived for the talks – the first ever between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader – in Singapore on Sunday.
Mr Trump tweeted on Monday morning that there was “excitement in the air” in the Asian country ahead of the summit.
He hopes the meeting will kick-start a process that eventually sees Mr Kim give up nuclear weapons.
But North Korea’s perspective has always been opaque, clarifying its expectations less than a day out from its sit-down with the US.
North Korea’s state media does not usually report on the leader’s activities in real time, and the summit has only had a passing mention so far.
The editorial in Rodong Sinmun confirmed that Mr Kim had travelled to Singapore to meet Mr Trump and that “we will establish a new relationship to meet the changing demands of the new era”.
It said “broad and in-depth opinions” would be exchanged to “establish a permanent and peaceful regime in the Korean peninsula and to solve problems that are of common concern, including issues to realise the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula”.
“Even if a country had a hostile relationship with us in the past, our attitude is that if this nation respects our autonomy… we shall seek normalisation through dialogue,” it reads. -BBC
