US envoy in China to mull date for NKorea talks

BEIJING, Jan 21 (Reuters) Washington's envoy to North Korean nuclear talks arrived in China and his Pyongyang counterpart conferred with Russia today, as hopes revived for progress in the long-running six-country negotiations.

US envoy Christopher Hill, aiming to fix a date for resuming the talks, said he would brief China's chief negotiator, Wu Dawei, about discussions he held last week in Berlin with the North Korean representative, Kim Kye-gwan.

''I will ask (Wu) about his thoughts on when they could schedule the next round of six-party talks,'' Hill told reporters on arrival at Beijing airport.

China hosts the talks, which also group the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia, and which began in 2003 with the aim of persuading impoverished Pyongyang to scrap its nuclear arms development.

The last round in December ended inconclusively, but last week's three days of meetings in Berlin between Hill and Kim have raised hopes. North Korea's official news agency said on Friday a ''certain agreement'' had been reached there.

Kim held talks in Moscow today with Russia's chief negotiator, Alexander Losyukov, on prospects of solving the dispute, the Russian foreign ministry said. Russian news agencies quoted Kim as saying he was pleased with the outcome.

One agency, RIA, said North Korean and US financial representatives would meet tomorrow to discuss the possibility of cancelling financial sanctions against Pyongyang, which are closely linked to the nuclear dispute. It gave no details.

Hill flew to Beijing from Tokyo, where he expressed hope yesterday that the next round could make progress.

URGENCY GROWS The urgency of making headway has grown since the North defied international warnings in October and conducted its first nuclear test, triggering UN sanctions.

''I would say those meetings in Berlin were indeed useful. They were very concrete. We discussed some of the specific issues we would need to negotiate in the six-party talks,'' Hill said after meeting his Japanese counterpart, Kenichiro Sasae.

''We hope that this time we can make some real progress,'' Hill added.

Hill said he had no plans to meet Kim again immediately but would see Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister He Yafei before returning to Washington tomorrow.

North Korea wants the United States to end a crackdown on its external financing that prompted Pyongyang to suspend its participation in the six-party talks for almost all of 2006.

The talks aim to implement a September 2005 deal, under which North Korea would abandon the nuclear option in exchange for aid and security guarantees.

Hill said in Tokyo he had agreed in Berlin with Kim to resume the six-way discussions soon.

Before visiting Japan, Hill briefed officials in Seoul. He and South Korean envoy Chun Yung-woo said they hoped the next round of talks would open before the Feb. 18 Lunar New Year.

REUTERS DKA PM1714