WASHINGTON - THE United States is 'likely' to decide soon to send special envoy Stephen Bosworth to North Korea in a bid to jumpstart denuclearisation talks, a senior US official said on Monday.

'I think it's quite likely,' the State Department official said on condition of anonymity.

The official said the announcement would likely take place before President Barack Obama heads this week to Asia, but Bosworth's trip would take place later.

North Korea has invited Mr Bosworth to visit for talks to end what it calls Washington's 'hostile' policy toward the communist state.

The United States has said it is willing to sit down with North Korea but only if such a meeting is considered as part of six-nation talks that led to 2005 and 2007 agreements for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.

'The main thing is that we want to encourage the resumption of the six-party talks. If that can be done in some other way, we will do it that way, but the invitation is for him to go to Pyongyang,' the anonymous official said. -- AFP