Bishop recalls North Korean false starts

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop warns there have been false starts before in negotiations with North Korea over nuclear weapons.

South Korean officials who met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this week said he expressed his willingness to denuclearise the Korean peninsula if his country's security is assured.

"While we welcome any efforts to bring North Korea to the negotiating table... of course, we wait to see real action," Ms Bishop told Sky News on Thursday.

"There have seen so many false starts before that it's hard not to be sceptical."

Next month, North Korea and South Korea will have the first meeting between their leaders since 2007 at the border village of Panmunjom.