U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says Washington understands the concern of thousands of Korean-Americans separated from their relatives in North Korea and will seek ways to include the issue on the discussion agenda once talks with the North get back on track.

Rice made the remarks during testimony before a congressional budget panel on Wednesday.

The secretary was responding to Illinois Representative Mark Kirk's question of whether Rice would consider reuniting Korean-Americans with their North Korean relatives.

Kirk said there are currently two million Korean-Americans in the United States and that thousands of them had separated family members in North Korea.