The United States on Wednesday expressed cautious optimism about talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) scheduled to resume the next day in Beijing.

Terming the talks "exploratory" in nature and the third of its kind, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Washington will see "how those talks proceed."

"You know, we're always, I think, cautiously optimistic," he told reporters at a regular news briefing.

US Special Representative for DPRK Policy Glyn Davies is in Beijing for talks with the DPRK delegation led by First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan over the six-party talks and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Washington hopes that the talks will lead to greater peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, according to the US delegation.

Former US Special Representative for DPRK Policy Stephen Bosworth met twice with Kim Kye Gwan in late July in New York and in late October in Geneva last year to discuss the possible resumption of the long-stalled six-party talks.

The six-party talks, a mechanism involves the DPRK, the Republic of Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, were launched in 2003, but got stalled in December 2008. The DPRK quit the talks in April 2009.