Senior officials of the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) had talks in New York on Saturday, the State Department said.

Sung Kim, special envoy for the six-party talks on nuclear issues of the Korean peninsula, met with Ri Gun, deputy representative of the DPRK at the six-party talks, State Department spokesman Noel Clay said in a statement.

"Ambassador Sung Kim took the opportunity to meet with him (Ri)in New York on October 24 to convey our position on denuclearization and the six-party talks," Clay said.

The six-party talks involve China, the United States, the DPRK, Russia, South Korea and Japan.

The United States has been urging the DPRK to give up nuclear arms for years. Although it agrees to be open to have dialogue with Pyongyang, the Obama administration insists that Pyongyang must agree to return to the six-party talks.

Any of U.S. bilateral contacts with the DPRK should lead to the resumption of six-party nuclear disarmament talks, U.S. official said.