The United States said that it was still hopeful of a resumption of dialogue with North Korea, despite a Washington-Pyongyang stalemate and a deterioration in ties between the two Koreas. James Kelly, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia, on Monday said that a US offer to talk any time, any place was still open, and announced that the United States, Japan and South Korea next week in San Francisco. “We are hopeful they can be restarted,” Kelly said, when asked whether US-North Korea contacts would soon resume for the first time since President George W Bush took power. Kelly said that a breakdown in South Korea-North Korea peace talks last week was not very good news, but argued in a press conference that the peninsular stalemate did not necessarily mean that US-North Korea talks would remain on the shelf indefinitely.
“I don't conclude from this that any hope of dialogue with North Korea is ended. North korea is a strange place, their statements are mostly negative, but every now and then they stick something in there that suggests that maybe they do want to talk after all.”
US-North Korean ties have been tense since President George W Bush took office in January and suspended dialogue amid a review of US policy.
In June, Bush offered to resume talks, but urged north to reduce conventional forces and halt the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

But north has urged Washington to drop its name from a list of states backing terrorism. Pyongyang sees US blacklist as one of the main obstacles to improve relations.
Bureau Report