WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 (Yonhap) -- The United States is unlikely to continue talks with North Korea if it worsens relations with South Korea, a senior Washington official said Tuesday.
Responding to Pyongyang's announcement last week that it would not deal with South Korea's Lee Myung-bak administration any more, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, "That is not going to be conducive to getting us back to the table."
She told a press briefing that the U.S. maintains two key criteria in terms of resuming the six-way talks -- continued improvement in inter-Korean ties and the North's commitment to denuclearization that it pledged in a 2005 deal with South Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan.
