The United States said Wednesday it will hold another round of “exploratory talks” with North Korea next week to determine if conditions are ready for a resumption of international negotiations on the reclusive state's nuclear disarmament.

A spokesman for the U.S. State Department, Mark Toner, said the meeting will take place Monday and Tuesday in Geneva.

He also confirmed that the U.S. special envoy for North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, is stepping down to return to his job as dean of the Tufts University's law school . Bosworth will be replaced by veteran diplomat Glynn Davies, who has most recently served as U.S. ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Both envoys will participate in next week's Geneva talks with a North Korean negotiating team, led by Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Guan.

Toner stressed that the United States is looking for evidence that North Korea is serious about resuming the six-party disarmament talks, which also include South Korea, China, Japan and Russia.

He did not specify what the evidence should be, but the United States and South Korea have repeatedly said that Pyongyang must halt its uranium enrichment program and other nuclear activities and improve relations with Seoul before talks can resume.

The State Department also said Wednesday that diplomat Clifford Hart is replacing Sung Kim as U.S. envoy to the six-party talks. Kim has been confirmed as the new U.S. ambassador to South Korea.

In 2005, North Korea agreed in principle to scrap its nuclear programs in exchange for international aid. But the talks have been stalled since then over various issues, mostly disagreements on how the disarmament will be verified. Pyongyang quit the six-nation talks in 2009 and later conducted its second nuclear test and further testing of its ballistic missiles.

Relations between the two Koreas reached their lowest point since the 1950s Korean War last year when they almost came to the brink of confrontation.