US officials believe the next round of talks with North Korea over its suspect nuclear program will only be delayed by a week, the State Department said Wednesday.
US envoy Christopher Hill "expects to travel to an envoys-level meeting of the six-party talks probably next week. We'll see. We'll see if it's next week," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
South Korean officials said they had been informed by Beijing on Monday that the six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear programs, due to resume on Wednesday, had been postponed.
McCormack said it was up to Beijing to set a new date, but added "we fully expect that there will be an envoys-level meeting of the six parties coming up … maybe as early as next week."
Washington also remained confident that a future ministerial meeting due to be attended by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice alongside her North Korean counterpart would go ahead.
"We don't have yet a date that is finally agreed upon for the ministerial. But a week here, a week there, I don't think, will delay it," McCormack said.
Washington and Pyongyang do not hold bilateral relations.
A US-led team of nuclear experts said Saturday they had held "very positive" talks with North Korean officials on a plan to disable the communist state's nuclear facilities during a trip to Pyongyang last week.
The team is scheduled to deliver a report at the six-nation talks — which began in 2003 — amid rising hopes for a breakthrough.
But recent US media reports that North Korea may be helping Syria build a nuclear weapons facility have sapped optimism.
State Department officials have refused to comment directly on the intelligence reports, except to say that Washington had always been concerned over North Korea's proliferation activities.
