US hints readiness for talks with North Korea

The United States has hinted willingness to hold direct discussions with North Korea in a bid to resume denuclearization of the communist state.

The US State Department's under-Secretary for East Asia, Kurt Campbell says that America seeks dialogue with the North Korean government, provided that Pyongyang "rapidly" returns to the six-nation talks.

"I think we were very clear that we would be prepared for, in the right circumstances at some point, some initial interaction that would lead rapidly to a six-party framework," noted the US official at a convention of America's influential foreign policy think tank, Council on Foreign Relations.

The announcement comes after an early October declaration by North Korea leader, Kim Jong-II who had expressed interest in US's direct participation in the country's nuclear negotiations.

The six-nation talks intended to dissuade North Korea from its nuclear status pursuit involved Russia, China, Japan, the Koreas and the United States.

However, Pyongyang has repeatedly demanded international recognition of its nuclear capabilities and tested two nuclear devices in the past two years in an order to demonstrate its membership in the so-called nuclear club of nations.

North Korea pulled out of the six-nation talks in April following a United Nations condemnation of the country's medium-range missile program and the imposition of economic sanctions on the North.