US sees North Korea talks starting December 16-18

Washington, Dec 11: A new round of six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear arms program will begin between December 16 and 18 in Beijing, the US State Department said yesterday.

Christopher Hill, assistant secretary of state for East Asia, will head the US delegation, State Department spokeswoman Joanne Moore said.

The first session was expected to last for a few days, then break for Christmas.

US confirmation followed media reports that the talks would soon resume. There have been no talks since Pyongyang walked out of the negotiations with South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States a year ago.

The reclusive communist state agreed to return to the table last month after a wave of international condemnation over its October. 9 nuclear test.

''At this discussion, we expect that the parties will discuss ways to implement the September 2005 joint statement,'' Moore said.

She was referring to an agreement under which Pyongyang said it was committed to ''abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs.'' Friday, US President George W Bush imposed sanctions on North Korea that require a cut-off in nuclear cooperation and in financial assistance.

But the measure will have little practical impact as the United States does not provide either to Pyongyang.

REUTERS