The United States said on Monday that its envoy to six-party talks on nuclear issues on the Korean peninsular could meet with nuclear negotiators of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in Beijing this week.

"It's certainly a possibility," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said when asked if U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill would meet with the DPRK officials as part of efforts to revive disarmament negotiations with Pyongyang.

Hill, assistant secretary of state and the top U.S. negotiator at the six-party talks, flew into Beijing Monday for talks with his counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea over the resumption of the six-party talks, McCormack said.

The spokesman described the talks as "preliminary" and designed to ensure that an eventual resumption of six-party talks involving the DPRK "produces real results."

The six-party talks on the Korean nuclear issue have remained stalled since the last round meeting in Beijing in November 2005. Pyongyang said on Nov. 1 that it had decided to return to the six- party talks, but did not offer a specific date.

Source: Xinhua