Washington says Pyongyang should re-join six-way nuclear talks at an early date, and refrain from viewing the outcome of November's presidential election as a potential bellwether for future U.S. policy.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters Wednesday that Pyongyang "should not put their hopes on the election." He added that the communist state "should sit down and continue to pursue action that will move them away from their ambitions."

McClellan made the remarks after he was asked to comment on reports by the AP News Agency that North Korea has decided to wait until at least after the Nov. 2nd U.S. presidential poll to resume negotiations over its nuclear weapons program.

At their last high-level negotiating session in June, the two Koreas, the U.S, China, Japan and Russia agreed to hold the next round of six-nation nuclear talks by the end of this month. However, a date for the fresh round has yet to be set.

The failure to nail down a date has raised speculation that Pyongyang is engaging in delay tactics in order to bargain with the winner of the U.S. presidential election over its nuclear weapons program.