The U.S. special envoy for North Korea policy says he will urge North Korea to return to the six-way nuclear talks if he visits the communist state.

In an interview posted on the East Asia Forum’s Web site on Wednesday, Stephen Bosworth said that he would inform the North that the U.S. is willing to restart the negotiation process on the North’s nuclear program.

The former ambassador to Seoul added that negotiations should take place within the framework of the six-party talks, using a joint statement adopted on September 19th, 2005, which clearly states that denuclearization was a shared ambition, as a starting point.

Bosworth has visited South Korea, China and Japan this month to coordinate views on the North Korean nuclear issue.