The United States said on Monday that it expects the six-party talks aimed at dissolving the nuclear programs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to resume around Feb. 8 in Beijing.

"Chris has a plane ticket for on or about February 8th in Beijing and so he is counting on going there," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, referring to the top U.S. nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill.

Hill and his DPRK counterpart Kim Kye-Gwan recently met in Berlin to discuss how to make progress when the six-party talks resume in Beijing.

During the round of six-party talks in September 2005, the DPRK signed a statement agreeing to give up its nuclear weapons program in exchange for economic aid and security guarantees from the United States and other countries. However, the DPRK refused to return to the talks as a result of U.S. financial sanctions.

Under pressure, the DPRK returned to the talks in December held in Beijing. However, the talks failed to make progress.

Source: Xinhua