US envoy urges patience on NKorea atom talks

TOKYO, Apr 12 (Reuters) The top US negotiator to talks on North Korea's nuclear arms programme urged patience after a two-day flurry of diplomatic activity in Tokyo failed to yield a breakthrough in the stalled negotiations.

US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill headed for Seoul today without holding substantive discussions with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye-gwan, dashing expectations of fresh momentum to resume the talks.

''It's now up to the DPRK (North Korea) to take some action,'' Hill said after meeting his South Korean counterpart, Chun Yung-woo.

''It's not our job to get them back to the talks. It's their job to get themselves back to the talks.'' The six countries in the nuclear talks agreed in September that North Korea would end all nuclear programmes in return for aid and a promise of security and better diplomatic ties.

But the most recent session in November, aimed at compiling a plan to implement that deal, yielded no progress.

Hill said Washington could not wait forever but that the six-way process was still viable.

''We've got the right format, the right deal on the table -- the September deal -- so we have to be a little patient and realise that this is the right approach,'' he told reporters just before departing.

China's chief delegate to the six-way talks, Wu Dawei, told reporters the six-way talks would not resume this month.

The main obstacle to reviving the talks, aimed at preventing a nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula, is a feud between Pyongyang and Washington over a US crackdown on North Korean assets, Wu said.

ROAD BLOCK, NOT COLLAPSE Washington has clamped down on banks that it suspects of assisting Pyongyang in illicit financial activities, including money laundering and counterfeiting US currency.

Pyongyang denies any involvement in such activities and wants Washington to lift what it considers financial sanctions before returning to the negotiating table.

Washington says the measures are purely a law enforcement matter and should not be linked to the six-party process.

Despite the gloom, South Korea's Chun said the six-party process was ''not yet over'' and that the discussions in Tokyo had been productive, although North Korea had not changed its stance.

''South Korea, China and Japan sent the message to the North in one voice urging the North to return to the six-party talks,'' Chun told reporters before heading home.

''I believe the fact that North Korea came here and listened to the common voice of all the other participating countries ... was a chance to help it make an accurate assessment and in the future make the decision to return to the talks.'' US envoy Hill urged China, which has hosted the six-way talks, to do its best to get Pyongyang back to the negotiations.

''I hope the Chinese can do their duty as hosts to the talks to get everybody to the table. I'm ready and I hope the Chinese can make sure that the DPRK is ready,'' he said.

Analysts had said China was keen to get agreement to resume the talks ahead of President Hu Jintao's meeting with US President George W Bush later this month.

The six countries in the talks are the two Koreas, China, the United States, Japan and Russia.

REUTERS KD PM1359