The United States reiterated on Friday that it will not hold one-to-one talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) but is willing to have discussions with it within the framework of the six-party talks.

"We're not going to negotiate with them (DPRK) one on one, but of course we'll have discussions with them. Negotiations take place among the six parties," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told a briefing.

"You can have a bilateral discussion in the context of the six-party talks. It doesn't mean you're negotiating bilaterally with North Korea, it means that you're having a discussion, just the two parties, in the context of the six-party talks," McCormack said.

The six-party talks, which involve the United States, the DPRK, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan, have been stalled since September last year when the last round of talks were held in Beijing.

The United States has urged the DPRK to return to the six-party talks although the DPRK conducted a nuclear test earlier this month.