The United States is genuinely interested in holding talks with North Korea about how to resume the long-stalled denuclearization negotiations and it does not matter whether such discussions take place in Pyongyang or elsewhere, the chief U.S. envoy said Saturday.

Amb. Sung Kim, special representative for North Korea policy, made the remark in an exclusive interview with Yonhap News Agency, stressing the North should come back to the negotiating table and honor its own commitment to give up its nuclear program.

It is unusual for a senior American official to openly express his willingness to hold talks in the North's capital. The remark is seen as part of an effort to reach out to Pyongyang to dissuade the regime from provocations as fresh tensions have arisen over the North's threats to conduct missile and nuclear tests.

"When we conveyed to Pyongyang that we are open to dialogue to discuss how we can resume credible and meaningful negotiations, of course we meant it. It was not an empty promise. We are willing to talk to them," Kim said during the interview at his State Department office.

"And frankly for me, whether that discussion takes place in Pyongyang, or some other place, is not important. I think what's important is for us to be able to sit down with them and hear directly from them that they are committed to denuclearization and that if and when the six-party talks resume, they will work with us in meaningful and credible negotiations towards verifiable denuclearization," he said.

The six-party nuclear talks aimed at resolving the North Korean standoff have been stalled since late 2008. North Korea demands the unconditional resumption of negotiations, while the U.S. says Pyongyang must first demonstrate its denuclearization commitment before formal negotiations reopen.

The U.S. says, however, it is still willing to hold "exploratory talks" with the North without any preconditions to see if Pyongyang is still committed to denuclearization and to discuss how to restart meaningful negotiations focused on denuclearization.

Kim said it does not matter where or in what format such exploratory talks are held.

"For us, the important thing is that we focus on the common goal of denuclearization. In order to resume meaningful negotiations, we need to talk to the North Koreans to prepare for that resumption. Of course, we're willing to talk to them," the envoy said.

Kim said the U.S. still maintains contact with the North through the "New York channel," which refers to the North's mission to the United Nations and has let the North Koreans know that it's open to such exploratory talks. But the North has shown no interest in talks about denuclearization, he said.

"I think that's been the problem. That's been the hindrance," he said.

Earlier this week, North Korea strongly hinted that it could launch a long-range rocket launch or conduct a nuclear test in violation of U.N. resolutions. The U.S. and South Korea warned the North of stronger sanctions should it forge ahead with such provocations.

Kim said the U.S. approach to North Korea consists of three pillars: deterrence, diplomacy and pressure. In terms of pressure, the U.S. is looking at how it can strengthen enforcement of existing sanctions and whether there are new sanctions it can impose.

"It's important that we continue our effort in all three tracks because I think it's clear that just one track isn't going to solve the problem," he said.

Kim said that he believes China and Russia also view a satellite launch by the North as a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and agree that there should be an appropriate response if Pyongyang goes ahead with a launch.

The North's missile and nuclear threats cast doubts over whether last month's peace agreement between the two Koreas can move forward, including the agreement to hold a new round of reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.

Kim said the U.S. welcomes the recent inter-Korean developments and will continue to support Seoul's efforts to improve relations with North Korea. The U.S. also hopes the family reunions will be held as planned, he said.

The interview was held on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of a landmark agreement that the six-party talks produced in 2005, in which Pyongyang agreed to give up its nuclear program in exchange for diplomatic recognition and economic concessions.

Implementation of the agreement, known as the "Sept. 19 Joint Statement," showed some progress in following years, with North Korea demolishing a cooling tower at its Yongbyon nuclear complex in 2007 in a show of its commitment to denuclearization.

But disagreement over verifying Pyongyang's past nuclear activity led to the suspension of the negotiations. While the talks idled, the North, which conducted its first nuclear test in 2006, conducted two more nuclear tests, one in 2009 and another in 2013.

"The joint statement is a very important document, and it reflects the strong commitment of all of the parties, with the exception of the North Koreans, our strong commitment to the core goal of the joint statement, which is denuclearization," Kim said.

"Even though we haven't had any progress in implementing the joint statement for the past six or seven years, we remain committed to the joint statement and to the goal of denuclearization. We will continue to work very hard in cooperation with our partners, with our five-party partners to try to achieve some progress in implementing the joint statement."  (Yonhap)