"North Korea expressed its intention to accept six-party talks directly without going through three-way talks or bilateral talks," Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-Hyuk told a news biefing.

South Korea, Japan, China, the United States and Russia will participate in the talks and all received notices at the same time from North Korea of its intention to accept the six-party talks proposed by the United States.

"North Korea told South Korea last night directly of its intention to accept six-way talks," Foreign Ministry spokesman Kim Sun-Heung said. "All countries were informed at the same time."

First public word of the agreement came from the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow which issued a statement on North Korea's decision late Thursday.

Officials here said there was no word of when the talks would take place though a senior US official speaking in Washington said they could take place as early as next month.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yoon Young-Kwan met with US ambassador to Seoul Thomas Hubbard to discuss the developments in the nuclear standoff but they declined to comment on the contents of their discussions.

WAR.WIRE