A high-level official from the United States is consulting with the Chinese government on the next steps to bring the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) back to the Six-Party Talks.

Kurt Campbell, US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told reporters yesterday in Beijing that he has already compared notes with high-level Chinese officials on Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Pyongyang earlier this month. China has been for months trying to re-engage DPRK officials to resume denuclearization discussions.

The news of cooperation between China and the US comes a day after reports said that the DPRK was preparing to again test-fire missiles following the launch of five short-range rockets on Monday.

Chinese experts on the DPRK said Monday's launching was possibly intended to boost the country's bargaining position before expected direct talks with the US.

Diplomacy with the DPRK "is very challenging and sometimes it's difficult to know exactly what's going to transpire in terms of your interactions with Pyongyang", Campbell said yesterday.

"I am here to learn from China about the next steps to make the DPRK come back to the nuclear disarmament talks framework," he said, adding that Washington has also had discussions with DPRK neighbors Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK).

He said that Chinese officials told him that the DPRK is prepared to revisit the Six-Party Talks, which was broken off in April of this year when the DPRK said it would resume its nuclear program. The Six-Party Talks involved China, the ROK, the US, Russia, Japan and the DPRK.