By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter

Direct talks between the United States and North Korea seem imminent as a U.S. official said that the country has no problem with dialogue with the secretive state.

Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. special envoy to North Korea, is expected to accept the North's invitation and fly to Pyongyang soon.

``We are prepared to have both bilateral and six-party talks with the North Koreans. And any bilateral talks must be in the context of the six-party talks,'' said Jeff Bader, the senior director for East Asian Affairs on the White House's National Security Council.

He noted that ``denuclearization is the agenda.''

If North Korea shows commitment to the six-party talks, Bader continued, ``There is no problem with bilateral contacts, either in Pyongyang or elsewhere.''

Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg echoed those sentiments while speaking at the Center for American Progress.

``We're in sync on the proposition that as we return to the six-party talks, we need to frame the way forward in a way that really leads to irreversible steps.''

The secretive North Korean regime has sought two-way talks with the United States in an apparent attempt to overcome economic hardship and isolation from international society.

It renewed its demand for bilateral talks last week, threatening to go its own way unless the United States sets a date. The country has completed the reprocessing of 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods.

Direct talks between the United States and North Korea are expected to take place in December at the earliest.

Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said last Thursday that he expected a meeting would be held at the end of this year or the beginning of 2010.

South Korea has reiterated that it will support a possible meeting of the two countries if it is helpful in denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

``I can confirm that South Korea and the United States are on the same page on almost all issues,'' Wi Sung-lac, South Korean's chief nuclear negotiator, told reporters after meeting with Steinberg and Bosworth in Washington.

He added, ``We've always supported bilateral dialogue if it is helpful to the restarting of the six-party talks.''

Wi left for the United States in a bid to fine-tune issues related to North Korea ahead of President Barack Obama's trip to Seoul later this month.

In regard to growing rumors of his visit to Pyongyang, Bosworth said, ``Nothing will happen before President Obama's Asian trip.''

But he added that his government would ``soon'' make a decision on his visit and suggested that he could fly to Pyongyang ``within a few weeks.''

ksy@koreatimes.co.kr