WASHINGTON, July 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet her counterpart of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) next week at an informal gathering of the six countries working for the settlement of nuclear issues on the Korean peninsula, the State Department said Friday.

    The scheduled meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Singapore will be Rice's first meeting with DPRK Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

    "She will attend the informal meeting," but she will not hold bilateral talks, McCormack said.

    During their meetings in Singapore, ministers of the United States, the DPRK, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia will "review where the six-party process is."

    Speaking of the six-party talks that began in 2003, the spokesman said that "the process is moving in the right direction, based on action for action."

    A series of ASEAN meetings will be starting from July 22 in Singapore. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.