Rice says US wants concrete action from Pyongyang

WASHINGTON, Nov 3 (Reuters) Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today said the United States wanted ''concrete action'' when six-party talks resume on North Korea's nuclear programme.

Rice said the starting point for the talks, which North Korea has boycotted since last November in protest at US financial restrictions, would be to seek implementation of an agreement signed with Pyongyang in September 2005.

The 2005 deal involved North Korea giving up its nuclear weapons programmes in exchange for economic, diplomatic and energy incentives from the other parties in the talks -- South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.

Two senior US State Department officials, Nicholas Burns and Robert Joseph, are leaving for Japan, South Korea and China this weekend to discuss new talks with North Korea, as well as the implementation of UN sanctions imposed after Pyongyang's October 9 underground nuclear test.

''They're going to look for ways to make sure that when we do go back to the table in the six-party talks that the talks really do aim at implementing the agreement that was signed in September of 2005, and that we don't just go back to talk, that we go back for concrete action,'' Rice told radio show host Laura Ingraham, referring to the two diplomats' mission.

China has hosted the six-party talks and announced this week that North Korea wanted to return to the discussions.

Rice said the talks were resuming under ''considerably different circumstances'' than before, referring to the UN sanctions resolution and China's backing of punitive measures against North Korea.

''They're coming back to talks in which China has made it very clear that it will not support North Korea's behavior,'' she added. ''No one has to worry about anybody going wobbly.'' South Korea's envoy to the six-party talks today said there might be informal meetings of all the players before the real negotiations began, probably in December.

But State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said he did not believe there was any such agreement for informal talks.

In previous rounds of talks, the United States has held bilateral discussions with North Korea and McCormack said the chief US negotiator, Chris Hill, would be empowered to follow that route again if was useful.

The Washington Times reported today the Pentagon was stepping up its contingency planning for attacks against North Korea following its nuclear test.

Asked about the report, Rice reiterated the United States had no intention to invade or attack North Korea and that Washington was on a diplomatic path with Pyongyang, with help from the Chinese.

''It's a tough diplomacy because it includes very tough sanctions against the North Koreans. We have leverage through the Chinese, who actually have real leverage with the North Koreans, and that's the course that we're on,'' she said.

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