From correspondents in Washington, United States, 08:01 AM IST

A US delegation will travel to East Asia this week for talks with Chinese, Japanese and South Korean officials to explore ways to resume the six-nation negotiations on North Korea's nuclear activities.

Stephen Bosworth, the special US envoy for North Korea, and other US officials are due to arrive in Beijing Thursday before heading to Seoul, Tokyo and Moscow later in the week, the US State Department said Tuesday.

North Korea broke off from the six-nation disarmament talks last month after the United Nations condemned Pyongyang's rocket launch. North Korea has said it will restart its atomic programme and also threatened to test a nuclear device for the second test since October 2006.

'The purpose of this trip is to work with our allies to find a way forward in convincing the North to come back to the negotiating table,' State Department acting spokesman Robert Wood said.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)