WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced on Sunday that North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kae-gwan will travel to New York later this week to continue denuclearization talks with the US and South Korea."I had a very productive trilateral meeting yesterday with Foreign Minister Kim of the Republic of Korea and Foreign Minister Matsumoto of Japan. We had a chance to consult and coordinate our diplomatic efforts and approaches with North Korea", said Clinton in a statement.

"Following the first round of denuclearization talks between the nuclear negotiators of the Republic of Korea and North Korea, the United States has invited North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kae-gwan to New York later this week", she added. Clinton noted that Vice Foreign Minister Kim "will meet with an interagency team of US officials for discussions on the next steps necessary to resume denuclearization negotiations thru the Six Party Talks".

"This will be an exploratory meeting to determine if North Korea is prepared to affirm its obligations under international and Six Party Talk commitments, as well as take concrete and irreversible steps toward denuclearization", she added.

Clinton affirmed that the US was "open to talks with North Korea, but we do not intend to reward the North just for returning to the table. We will not give them anything new for actions they have already agreed to take. And we have no appetite for pursuing protracted negotiations that will only lead us right back to where we have already been". "The US position remains that North Korea must comply with its commitments under the 2005 Joint Statement of the Six Party Talks, relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions, and the terms of the Armistice Agreement", she concluded. (KUNA)