WASHINGTON, US - The United States said Monday it was ready to talk to North Korea if it returns to six-nation disarmament talks but said that the goal must be a complete end of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons.

US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly was reacting to an announcement by North Korean state media that it was ready to return to six-way disarmament talks if separate negotiations with the United States make progress.

"We and our six-party partners want North Korea to engage in a dialogue that leads to complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula through irreversible steps," Kelly said.

"The US remains willing to engage North Korea bilaterally within the framework of the six-party process to convince North Korea to take the path of complete denuclearization," he said.