The United States said on Wednesday that it was still committed to the six-party process despite that the talks were not taking place this month.

"We remain committed to the six-party process. We think that is the way to move forward," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said at a news briefing.

"It makes sense to do it that way, it is the way to do it. It has shown that it is a process that can work," Boucher said.

Boucher admitted that the six-party talks would not happen this month as agreed by all the parties at the last round of the six-party talks in June.

"North Korea, unfortunately, has seen fit not to commit itself, not to do what it committed itself to do, not to show up and to continue stalling," Boucher said.

The United States has said that it would like to see another round of the six-party talks on the nuclear issue of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) take place and said it was continuing to work with the other parties to move the six-party process forward and "it is not something we are giving up on."

Three rounds of the six-party talks, hosted by China, have been held to try to end the nuclear confrontation between the DPRK and the United States.

(Xinhua News Agency September 30, 2004)