US President Barack Obama said on Thursday that his administration is trying to "keep a door open" for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s return to the six-party talks.

US President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington in this June 23, 2009 file photo.

In his exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Obama insisted that the DPRK give up its nuclear weapon programs.

That is "the only way Pyongyang is going to improve its economy and join the world community," Obama was quoted as saying.

Also on Thursday, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly urged Pyongyang to return to international nuclear disarmament talks.

The six-party talks, involving the DPRK, the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia, was first held in Beijing, China in August 2003, and has made tangible progress in the following years, including the demolition by the DPRK of the cooling tower at its Yongbyon nuclear complex in June 2008.

However, the disarmament talks suspended since December 2008 due to sharp differences between the United States and the DPRK over, among others, the verification of the disable nuclear facilities.