The United States has said it is interested in a bi-lateral engagement with North Korea, but any such talks have to be within the framework of six-party proces.
The Obama Administration's views came in the wake of interest expressed by North Korea to start bilateral talks with the United States.
"We are perfectly willing to have bilateral talks with North Korea, as we have said many times, within the larger framework of the six-party process," Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, P J Crowley, said yesterday.
Noting that though such a gesture from North Korea was a welcome move, Crowley said it still remains for Pyongyang to demonstrate that it's willing to come back to the six-party process.
"There's plenty of opportunity for North Korea, but it has to come back to the six-party process. It has to be prepared to take affirmative and verifiable actions to denuclearise," he said.
Crowley said that the North Korea has international obligations, which they need to fulfill through the talk process.
More From This Section
"It has obligations under UN Security Council resolutions. It has commitments to fulfill that it made in 2005. And we are prepared to have a process – the United States, together with North Korea, together with the other countries in the region – a process that moves North Korea down a path towards denuclearisation. That path is clearly available to North Korea," he said.
Meanwhile, the United States would continue to vigorously enforce sanctions to convince them that the path that the US-led international community has outlined is preferable to the path that they desire, he added.