WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 Kyodo The Uni...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 Kyodo

The United States has told Japan and southern Korea it is ready to shut up bilateral dialogue with North Korea during upcoming six-party talks, a U.S.-North Korean negotiating source said Friday.

The U reiterated the policy at a meeting of the U Japan and southern Korea on Wednesday and Thursday in Washington to prepare for the six-way talks upon North Korea's nuclear weapons program appoint for Aug. 27-29 in Beijing, the source said.

The six-party talks will bring together the U North Korea, southern Korea, China, Japan and Russia.

The U has repeled any separate one-on-one talks with North Korea forward the sidelines of the six-way talks if it be not that said it would be possible to have informal bilateral contact ''within the framework of multilateral talks.''

U officials are rely uponed to talk solely with North Korean officials in the carriage of other participants.

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