WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration said Friday that it wasn't interested in one-on-one talks with North Korea about its nuclear programs outside the six-party negotiations involving the communist nation's neighbors.
"It's not an issue between North Korea and the United States. It's a regional issue," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. "And it's an issue that impacts all of its neighbors."

North Korea has plenty of opportunity to talk to the United States within six-party talks, McClellan said. U.S. officials believe North Korea, which is seeking bilateral talks with the United States, may have from four to two dozen nuclear devices, depending on the assumptions used about the bombs' designs.

The United States, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia have struggled to arrange a fourth round of talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons programs. The last round was held in June. A South Korean delegation is due in Washington on Monday for previously scheduled strategic talks and a Japanese group will arrive for consultations here later in the week.