WASHINGTON: In a policy shift, the Obama administration said on Friday it is prepared to hold direct talks with North Korea in a bid to bring Pyongyang back to six-nation nuclear disarmament negotiations. The administration -- which has conditioned talks with North Korea on Pyongyang's agreeing to return to a nuclear deal it quit in April -- made the offer after consulting partners China, South Korea, Japan and Russia. Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley told reporters at the daily news briefing the move did not amount to a significant policy change, but suggested it amounted to a tactical shift -- a "short-term" measure to bring the reclusive Stalinist state back to talks.