Seoul: South Korea reaffirmed on Monday that it is not opposed to direct talks between the United States and North Korea if these help to revive stalled six-nation discussions on nuclear disarmament.
"The government is not against a US-North Korean bilateral meeting if it does not replace six-party talks and expedites the six-party process aimed at denuclearising North Korea," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Moon Tae-Young.
Washington said on Friday it is prepared to talk directly with North Korea in order to bring it back to the six-nation talks, which also group South Korea, China, Russia and Japan.
Critics say any bilateral talks can be seen as rewarding Pyongyang, which quit the multilateral forum in April in protest after the United Nations censured its long-range rocket test.
In May, the North conducted a second nuclear test.
Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley said on Friday the US had had consultations with its partners about holding direct talks.
Crowley denied the move amounted to a significant policy change, but suggested it amounted to a tactical shift when he called it a "short-term" measure to bring the North back to talks.
He said it is too early to say when and where envoys such as Stephen Bosworth, the US envoy for North Korea, and Bosworth`s deputy Sung Kim would meet their North Korean counterparts.
"Given the consultations that we have, given the invitation that was extended (from North Korea for direct talks), we`ll make some decisions, you know, in the next couple of weeks," Crowley said.
The North said this month it had reached the final stages of enriching uranium and was also building more plutonium-based atomic weapons.
Bureau Report
