Representatives of the six-party nuclear talks met informally this week on the sidelines of the Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue in San Diego to discuss resuming the six-way dialogue.

The Northeast Asia dialogue held Monday and Tuesday was hosted by the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation.

In an interview with San Diego's KPBS broadcaster, institute director Susan Shirk said the six-way talks' negotiators, including those from the U.S. and North Korea, wanted to use the San Diego conference as a forum to discuss the odds of the North returning to the dialogue table.

Shirk said that all the six-party officials were seated at the same table during mealtimes and that they had ample opportunities to engage in informal talks on the issue.