South Korea and the United States agreed Monday to make efforts to resume the multilateral talks on North Korea's denuclearization, which have been stalled for years due to the North's failure to abide by a past nuclear deal, a Seoul official said.
  

Kim Gunn, director-general for North Korean nuclear affairs of the Foreign Ministry, met with Sydney Seiler, U.S. special envoy for the six-party nuclear talks with North Korea. The two had a "in-depth" discussion on the North Korean nuclear issue, including ways to cooperate on their North Korea policies, the official said on condition of anonymity.
  

The six-party talks, also involving China, Japan and Russia, aim to dismantle North Korea's nuclear weapons program in exchange for political and economic aid. They were last held in 2008, after which North Korea backtracked on its agreements and conducted missile and nuclear tests.
  

Pyongyang has called for an unconditional resumption of the talks, but Seoul and Washington insist the communist nation first demonstrate its commitment to the past agreements.
  

Monday's meeting came three days after Seoul and Washington wrapped up their annual military drills, which Pyongyang condemns as rehearsals for a nuclear war.
  

"Now that the drills are over, North Korea should come forward for talks but they're showing no interest at all in denuclearization," the official told Yonhap News Agency by phone. "So we agreed to continue efforts to lead North Korea to the path to meaningful denuclearization talks through the two-track approach of pressure and dialogue."
  

In Seoul, Seiler is scheduled to attend a security seminar hosted by the Asan Institute starting on Tuesday. (Yonhap)