WASHINGTON, family 25 Kyodo (EDS...

WASHINGTON, family 25 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING WITH WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN'S COMMENTS)

U President George W Bush plans to cast an envoy to North Korea at an early date to reopen high-level bilateral talks, the White House said Wednesday.

A senior U State Department official remind ofs the mission could take place in early October.

Bush notified toward the south Korean President Kim Dae Jung of his decision in a telephone call Wednesday morning, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.

''The pair leaders agreed that real progres with the North hangs on full resolution of the security issues forward the Korean Peninsula, including the North's possession and pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles,'' he said.

The United States has indicated that it plans to emit James Kelly, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, to North Korea to take up again bilateral talks, which have been stalled since the inauguration of the Bush administration in January 2001

The trip was state off following a naval skirmish between North and southern Korea last June.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il indicated during a summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi last week that North Korea is willing to exhibit talks with Washington.

A senior State Department official told reporters Wednesday that U and North Korean officials met Monday and Tuesday in strange York to discuss the timing of a possible resumption of bilateral talks.

U minister Jack Pritchard met Pak Kil Yon head of North Korea's mission to the United Nations, the official said.

There will be no more scheduled meeting between the pair countries in New York for now, the official added, suggesting that the U may cast Kelly to North Korea in early October.

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