US, Asia powers gear up for N. Korea nuclear talks

The United States urged North Korea yesterday to seize a "great opportunity" at crucial six-party talks this week on resolving a crisis over the reclusive communist state's nuclear weapons ambitions.

US and Japanese delegations arrived in South Korea to coordinate policies before a second round of negotiations with North Korea, China and Russia in Beijing on Wednesday.

"We have a great opportunity for all of the parties at the six-party talks, especially the DPRK (North Korea)," said Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly, chief US delegate.

Analysts held out modest expectations for the talks due to lack of trust between Washington and Pyongyang, main protagonists in a dispute that has stoked regional tensions since late 2002.

But host China has sounded broadly upbeat, and reports from regional capitals suggested that, despite public denials, North Korea appears prepared to discuss a suspected uranium enrichment programme that its partners say is the crux of the dispute.

Washington, Tokyo and Seoul have made clear to Pyongyang that the Beijing talks must cover not only North Korea's plutonium-based nuclear arms programme, but a second suspected bomb-making scheme based on highly enriched uranium.

"They are talking about a 'freeze', but what we are interested in is the content," Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said on a television talk show in Tokyo yesterday. "Is it just plutonium or does it include enriched uranium?"

South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon told reporters during a visit to Saudi Arabia that step one in a phased solution of the crisis required the North to freeze and agree to dismantle all nuclear programmes subject to inspections.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov, head of Moscow's delegation, was quoted by Itar-Tass news agency as saying he did not expect a breakthrough at the first six-way meeting in six months. He echoed top US and Japanese officials in calling for a working group to conduct regular talks.

North Korea proposed last month to freeze its nuclear activities in exchange for energy aid and diplomatic rewards. But the offer apparently covered only its plutonium-based programme, centred on a reactor and reprocessing facilities.

Pyongyang has denied having a uranium enrichment programme. On Saturday, it said Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan's statement that he sold nuclear secrets to Pyongyang were part of a "whopping lie" fabricated by US neoconservatives.