N Korea won't get better deal by waiting -US envoy

SINGAPORE, May 22 (Reuters) North Korea, which has boycotted six-party talks about its nuclear programme since last November, will not get a better deal even after a change of the Bush administration, a US envoy to the talks said today.

US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said the move to negotiate a peace treaty at the same time as six-country talks on dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear programmes was not a new approach undertaken by President George W Bush's administration.

''They are not going to get a better deal two years, or three years from now,'' Hill told a news conference in Singapore.

''This is a proposal put together by six countries, and the notion that somehow, by waiting around for two years, or three years is going to reap some benefits, is something I find hard to understand,'' he said.

Bush leaves office in January 2009 at the end of his second term.

He is barred by the constitution from serving another term.

When asked about a New York Times report which said Washington was considering a new approach to North Korea, Hill denied any change in tactics, saying that replacing the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean war was one of the main principles of the six-party talks.

''It's not new news,'' Hill said. ''One of the principles of the talks was to replace the armistice with a peace mechanism and the US has always wanted to see these principles being implemented.'' ANOTHER CARROT? The two Koreas, the United States, Japan, Russia and China signed a loose agreement in September for Pyongyang to end its nuclear programmes in return for aid and better ties with regional powers.

North Korea has long demanded a permanent peace treaty to replace the frayed armistice and the administration has said previously it would be willing to consider working on such an agreement.

US officials have estimated that the North Koreans have made fuel for perhaps as many as nine nuclear weapons, although whether they actually produced bombs is unclear.

The Bush administration had initially insisted the North dismantle its nuclear programs before receiving any economic or political returns, but has softened that position over time. The latest move to offer simultaneous peace treaty talks and nuclear negotiations appeared to be another carrot.

Although the United States has been cracking down on alleged illicit North Korean activities such as counterfeiting and money laundering, and putting pressure on its human rights record, China and South Korea have continued to provide aid and investment to the impoverished North.

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun was quoted in reports as saying that he was willing to meet North's leader Kim Jong-il anytime for talks and would make concessions to its northern neighbour.

But Hill brushed away any talk of disagreement with South Korea over how to engage North Korea, saying both countries share ''an awful lot of similarities'' in their moves.

Because the two Koreas share a border and a long history together, South Korea ''has a broad policy ... that is at times quite apart from the nuclear issues, for example the North-South dialogue,'' Hill said.

''But we have supported those dialogues.'' REUTERS PG PM1550