The U.S. State Department says the U.S. encourages dialogue between the two Koreas and supports President Lee Myung-bak's openness to meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

Asked to comment on Lee’s proposed inter-Korean summit, department spokesman Philip Crowley said in a daily briefing Tuesday that the U.S. encourages such dialogue.

Crowley said that should such a meeting take place, the focus of the message from South Korea to the North would center on what North Korea must do to return to the six-party process and begin to take steps toward denuclearization.

Last week, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg said Washington strongly supports President Lee and the clear path he set forward about what is necessary to achieve peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.