The United States and North Korea may hold working-level talks in New York as early as next week aimed at resuming six-country negotiations on Pyongyang's nuclear program, a newspaper said Saturday. Citing unnamed sources familiar with U.S.-North Korea affairs, Japan's Mainichi newspaper said in a Washington-datelined story that officials from the two countries will discuss such issues as the financial sanctions imposed on North Korean interests by the United States. North Korea agreed to return to the talks _ involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia _ following its test of a nuclear weapon on Oct. 9. The test triggered international outrage and economic sanctions. No date has yet been set for their resumption. North Korea, which says its nuclear ambitions are aimed at deterring U.S. attacks, has boycotted the nuclear talks since November 2005, the Associated Press reported.
