The Obama administration would hold direct talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) only if Pyongyang fulfilled its commitments under the six-party framework, one of U.S. President Barack Obama's top advisers said Friday.

The U.S. is ready to talk to the DPRK "in the context of the six-party talks with the explicit goal of denuclearization and with a recognition that its previous commitments to denuclearize and return to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, notably those in 2005, remain valid," said Jeff Bader, senior director for East Asian Affairs on the National Security Council.

"We want to see genuine signs that the North Koreans understand that the six-party process is the right framework," Bader explained at a forum on Obama's Asia trip, sponsored by the Washington-based think tank, the Brookings Institution.

"If we see that, then there is no problem with bilateral contacts either in Pyongyang or elsewhere."

The Obama administration has claimed that the bilateral talks with Pyongyang should be in the DPRK's denuclearization process guided by the six-party talks mechanism. Next to the DPRK and the United States, this six-party mechanism also includes China, Japan, South Korea and Russia.

During his first trip to Asia as U.S. president, Obama will visit Japan, China, South Korea and Singapore, where he will attend meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. The nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula is expected to top the agenda during Obama's talks with Asian leaders.

Comments