The United States is open to talks with North Korea on a peace treaty at the same time as six-country talks on dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear programmes, a US official said today.
Commenting on a report in the New York Times, the official said the concurrent efforts had been under way for months.
The comments appeared to play down the Timesreport that the Bush administration was considering a new policy.
The Timeshad characterised the effort as a new approach but said the change would only happen if North Korea returned to the talks, which have been stalled for months by its refusal to participate.
North Korea has refused to return to six-country talks on the nuclear issue since an inconclusive session last November.
In recent media interviews, two senior US officials were very pessimistic about persuading North Korea to return to the table and said they did not expect any movement until after Mr Bush leaves office, in 2009, at the earliest.
The Timesnoted that a new stance on North Korea would coincide with efforts by the United States and other major powers, so far fruitless, to persuade Iran to drop its planned nuclear programme.
Many US officials and experts are concerned that Iran draws inspiration from North Korea, which has suffered few international penalties since declaring that it possesses nuclear weapons and will continue to make nuclear fuel.
The Bush administration had initially insisted the North dismantle its nuclear programmes before receiving any economic or political returns but has softened that position over time.