Officials of the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) met in New York on Monday in a new effort to unblock stalled six-party talks on Pyongyang's nuclear arms program, a State Department official said.

"I can confirm that there was a meeting this morning between North Korea and the United States," said the official in Washington, who asked not to be named.

The official said that the United States was represented by Joseph DiTrani, the US special envoy to the six-party talks, and by Jim Foster, the director of the State Department's Office of Korean Affairs.

There was no immediate information about who represented the DPRK, whose mission had no immediate comment on the talks.

Three rounds of the six-party talks have been held to try to resolve the DPRK nuclear issue. The six-party talks have been stalled since June last year as the DPRK accused the United States of adopting a hostile policy towards Pyongyang.

(Xinhua News Agency June 7, 2005)