US, North Korea financial talks end, no accord

BEIJING, Dec 20 (Reuters) Talks between US Treasury officials and their North Korean counterparts about crippling US curbs on Pyongyang's external financing ended today without agreement, the US envoy to the talks said.

Daniel Glaser, the Treasury official leading the delegation, told reporters that the talks were business-like but had not touched on the core issue of North Korea's ''illicit financing''.

''I thought the meeting was business like and useful,'' Glaser said, but added, ''As I've said before, for this process moving forward to be productive and useful, it's going to have to start focusing very, very closely on the underlying concerns of illicit finance.'' Glaser said he would leave Beijing on Thursday without further discussion. But he also said they were talking about holding another meeting next month, possibly in New York.

The treasury talks were being carried out as delegates from the two Koreas, the United States, Russia, Japan and China met for negotiations and aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear programmes. The talks were in their third day today.

The talks have made little progress so far, and diplomats said they were expected to wind up on Friday.

North Korea opened the six-party talks by saying it would not compromise until the US financial restrictions, as well as UN sanctions levelled against it after it conducted a nuclear test in October, were lifted. Pyongyang also demanded it be provided with a new nuclear reactor.

REUTERS LL BD1934