US, North Korea officials may meet next week -media

TOKYO, Nov 11 (Reuters) Officials from the United States and North Korea may meet as early as next week in New York to discuss resumption of six-party talks on dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear programmes, a Japanese daily said today.

The Mainichi Shimbun said working-level officials from the two countries would also talk about the US crackdown on North Korea's suspected illicit financial activities, including freezing of North Korean assets at a Macau-based bank.

The paper, which quoted sources involved in US-North Korea relations, did not give the names of the officials who would be taking part in the New York talks.

North Korea pulled out of the six-party talks a year ago, protesting the US financial crackdown, but agreed in late October to return to the negotiating table on the premise the US measures would be discussed.

The dates of the next round of the talks, which involve the United States, the two Koreas, Japan, China and Russia, and follows North Korea's first nuclear test on October nine, have not been set yet.

REUTERS BDP DS1220