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Gov. Bill Richardson will meet on Friday in Santa Fe with two North Korean diplomats for an attempt to convince the country to dismantle its nuclear weapons.

The Governor's Office said the North Koreans asked for the meeting in advance of upcoming multilateral talks about the North Korean nuclear weapons program.

"While I will not be acting as an official representative of the administration, I am pleased to do whatever I can to help increase understanding between our two countries and help move the six-party talks forward," Richardson said in a statement.

"I believe we have an opportunity to use diplomacy to end this crisis and bring stability to the Korean Peninsula. I will press the North Koreans to start dismantling their nuclear weapons," he said.

Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has been to the rogue nation five times, including in October of last year. The Koreans have visited Santa Fe in the past, soon after Richardson took office in 2003.

The six-party talks - between North Korea, South Korea, Russia, Japan, China and the United States, are set to start again on Monday.

The talks aimed at getting rid of weapons on the Korean Peninsula are a "critical crossroads," said K.A. Namkung, Richardson's senior adviser.

"The North Korean's visit to Santa Fe this week will hopefully help move the talks forward," he said.

The diplomats from the North Korean Mission to the United Nations, Minister Kim Myong Gil and First Secretary Song Se Il, are expected to arrive in Santa Fe Friday morning, according to the Governor's Office.