A high-ranking South Korean government official said Thursday that additional talks between the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are possible before the six-party talks resume, local media reported.

"I can't rule out the possibility of additional talks between the two countries," an unnamed official was quoted as saying by Seoul's Yonhap News Agency.

"But additional talks, if any, will have to produce tangible and constructive results," the official reportedly said.

The official added that presumably ongoing contacts between the two sides do not seem to have any significant meaning at the moment.

Following a trip to Pyongyang earlier this month, Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special nuclear envoy, said the United States and the DPRK have reached a common understanding on the need for resuming the talks and implementing the Joint Statement of September 2005, raising hopes on warming ties between the two countries.

But the official was skeptical about the possibility that the six-party talks over the denuclearization of Korean Peninsula would resume soon, saying the participating countries will not likely meet before mid-February.

The stalled negotiations looked set to resume soon, with Seoul' s Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan recently commenting that discussions to resume the talks are underway.