Ambassador Kathleen Stephens, the U.S.’ woman in Seoul, has told a group of National Assembly lawmakers that Washington remains determined to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue within a multilateral forum, regardless of any progress made in the October 24th meeting between Ri Gun, the North Korean government’s expert on American affairs, and Ambassador Sung Kim, one of the U.S.’ top nuclear negotiators.

"It is our sincere hope that this meeting will start the process of getting North Korea back into a multilateral talks process,” she told the group.

However, "We do think this is a multilateral issue, not a bilateral issue simply with the U.S., although we are certainly prepared to play our role.”

She also moved to reaffirm long-held U.S. positions, saying that a normal relationship with a nuclear-armed North Korea is not acceptable, but that a denuclearized or denuclearizing North Korea could reasonably expect “the kind of assistance that it very much needs.”

Meanwhile, speaking in Tuesday’s press briefing, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly characterized the meeting between Ri Gun and Sung Kim in New York on October 24th as “useful,” saying “These were discussions that were designed to move us closer to our goal, our immediate goal, which is the resumption of the Six-Party Talks. And so in that regard, it was a useful meeting.”

However, Kelly refused to be drawn on whether Ambassador Stephen Bosworth, the U.S.’ point man on the North Korean nuclear issue and himself a former ambassador to South Korea, would visit Pyongyang, saying that no decision has yet been reached on the matter.