The United States has told DPRK in their informal contacts from May that it could consider the possibility of setting up a liaison office in Pyongyang to normalize relations should DPRK abandon its nuclear programs, diplomatic sources said Monday.

U.S. government officials have also conveyed the possibility to China, the host of the six-party talks on the DPRK nuclear issue, the sources said.

According to the sources, the discussions between the two sides over the possible normalization of bilateral ties took place in New York on June 6.

The United States told DPRK, which has repeatedly called for a halt to what it calls Washington's hostile attitude toward it, that if Pyongyang clearly moves toward the abandonment of its nuclear programs, normalization of relations was possible, according to the sources.

It added that the abandonment of the nuclear programs would pave the way for security guarantees as well as economic assistance, which were included in a proposal Washington tabled in the last round of six-way talks in June 2004 that called for DPRK to give up its nuclear programs, the sources said.

The U.S. proposal last year did not include the establishment of a liaison office.

The establishment of a liaison office in Pyongyang was mentioned in a 1994 agreement that averted the first DPRK nuclear crisis. While the United States had made preparations for the office, the plan was never carried out.

A liaison office is the lowest level of diplomatic representation recognized under a 1961 Geneva treaty on diplomatic representation.

Source: Agencies