The foreign ministers of North Korea and the United States may meet on the sidelines of the next round of six-way nuclear talks to open in Beijing next month.

Foreign Minister Song Min-soon hinted at the possibility of the bilateral talks during an interview with the Seoul-based Hankyoreh newspaper Thursday.

If such talks occur, the North’s Vice Foreign Minister, Kang Sok-ju, is likely to represent the communist country as he is considered the most probable successor to the late Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun.

The talks will likely come in the middle or end of April as the North has promised to close down its nuclear facility in Yongbyon and allow international inspectors back into the country until April 14th under the February 13th six-way agreement.

Meanwhile, on the North’s calls for a light water reactor, Song said that the member countries to the six-way talks share the view that the issue could be dealt with in line with how the North’s nuclear dismantlement efforts develop.