Tokyo, Japan (CNN) -- The United States needs evidence of a serious commitment from North Korea before resuming six-party talks aimed at resolving the North's nuclear arms standoff, the U.S. special envoy on North Korea policy said Wednesday in Tokyo.
"We are looking for evidence that North Korea now regards the possibility of negotiations seriously. We are not interested in negotiation just for the sake of talking," envoy Stephen Bosworth said. "We want talks to lead to specific and concrete results".
Bosworth made his comments before leaving Tokyo for Beijing, China, for the last leg of his trip in Asia. He visited South Korea and Japan to meet with his counterparts to discuss denuclearization and other policies related to North Korea.
The six-party talks will not resume in the next few weeks, because building a consensus among the nations will take time, he said.
The talks involve the United States, North Korea, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia. Dialogue halted last year after the U.N. Security Council condemned North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket, saying it violated a resolution banning ballistic missile testing. The North expelled U.S. nuclear experts and U.N. nuclear inspectors after the rebuke.
Signs point to improved relations between South and North Korea, Bosworth said.
CNN
