The United States has hinted that progress may have been made during a series of bilateral meetings between top U.S. and North Korean diplomats this week.

During a news briefing Thursday at the State Department, spokesman Ian Kelly said that although Washington is not prepared to characterize the meetings, that doesn’t mean there was no progress made on the issue of resuming the six-way nuclear talks.

Kelly made the comment in response to a question asked about a previous statement made by the department which suggested that nothing had been achieved during the meetings between the head of the North Korean Foreign Ministry's United States division Ri Gun and U.S. special envoy to the six-way nuclear talks Sung Kim in New York and California.

Kelly also refuted a Japanese daily’s report that U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Stephen Bosworth will visit North Korea in late November, saying that Washington has yet to make a decision regarding a potential visit by Bosworth to North Korea for bilateral talks.

Kelly added that it has not been decided whether Sung Kim will attend a debate in New York on North Korea that will be attended by Ri on Friday.