The United States says it is prepared to engage in dialogue with North Korea under the right circumstances.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told reporters Thursday that the U.S. and South Korea have always maintained that they are prepared to hold talks with Pyongyang under the right conditions.

However, he noted that as President Lee Myung-bak has said on numerous occasions, Seoul and Washington do not want to talk for talking’s sake.

Campbell stressed that there has to be a clear determination that Pyongyang rejects its provocative ways and embraces a path toward denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.

Campbell made the remarks after he was asked to comment on the North’s suggested resumption of the six-way nuclear talks in the wake of the adoption of a U.N. Security Council statement denouncing the attack on the “Cheonan” naval ship.

Campbell also announced that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be visiting South Korea and Vietnam next week.