Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says he hopes North Korea's nuclear standoff will be resolved through the six-way talks, precluding the issue's referral to the United Nations Security Council.

In an interview with German weekly 'Stern,' Powell said that Washington's consistent stance remains that it will seek a U.N. referral only when all satisfactory options to resolve Pyongyang's nuclear issue exhaust themselves.

Powell also said it's difficult to predict the communist state's next move in the increasingly complex nuclear standoff.

The ex-state secretary reiterated the need to jumpstart the ailing six-way negotiations, pointing out that if Pyongyang does in fact possess nuclear weapons, then its neigboring nations would face a far graver threat than the U.S. would.