The United States would resume disarmament talks with North Korea if that nation abandons its nuclear ambitions, a senior U.S. envoy said Saturday.

In the meantime, the United States will continue to back sanctions against North Korea, Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs, told reporters in Seoul.

North Korea launched a long-range rocket in April and conducted a second nuclear test in May, prompting the United Nations Security Council to impose new sanctions.

The United States is discussing a meeting with South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan, the five nations previously involved in disarmament talks with North Korea, Campbell said. A five-way meeting without North Korea "makes sense," Campbell said.

China, however, is concerned such a meeting would make North Korea feel more isolated and negatively impact six-party disarmament talks, should they ever resume, Yonhap news agency reported Saturday.