US downbeat about revival of NKorea nuclear talks

People watch a TV screen reporting about North Korea's next leader Kim Jong Un, at the Seoul Train Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan 2, 2012. The United States said on Tuesday that the new North Korean leadership's stated refusal to engage with South Korea bodes ill for reviving six-party nuclear disarmament talks. -- PHOTO: AP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States said on Tuesday that the new North Korean leadership's stated refusal to engage with South Korea bodes ill for reviving six-party nuclear disarmament talks.

'That's not going to be conducive to getting back to the table,' State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland told reporters when asked about the North Korean stand.

North Korea on Friday ruled out engagement with South Korea's current government of conservative President Lee Myung Bak, a day after proclaiming Kim Jong Un, the son of late leader Kim Jong Il, as its new supreme chief.

The North will never have dealings 'with the Lee Myung Bak group of traitors,' according to the National Defense Commission, the top decision-making body. Ms Nuland recalled that 'there have been two criteria that we are looking for in particular in terms of getting back to six-party talks.' 'One is the continued improvement' of relations between the two Koreas, she said.