US presses North Korea to act at talks set for February 8

BEIJING, Jan 30 (Reuters) The United States demanded today that North Korea offer real steps to nuclear disarmament at six-country negotiations, which China announced would resume on February 8 in Beijing.

A US Treasury official, meanwhile, said that talks with Pyongyang on a financial standoff that has overshadowed the nuclear negotiations were inching forward.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said the new six-party talks must bring initial steps to implement a September 2005 joint statement that committed the communist state to dismantling its nuclear arms in return for economic and security assurances.

''We hope that all sides will continue to display a positive attitude, strengthen dialogue, enhance trust and as early as possible fully implement the joint statement and realise the goal of denuclearising the Korean peninsula,'' Jiang Yu told reporters.

After China's announcement, the United States' ambassador to South Korea, Alexander Vershbow, said progress would depend on North Korea moving to dismantle its nuclear arsenal.

''We have made clear to North Korea that we seek a full implementation by all parties of the September 19, 2005, joint statement,'' Vershbow told a forum in Seoul.

''North Korea has to live up to its commitments in the joint statement and take concrete steps to denuclearise.'' In return, he said, the impoverished, reclusive state would receive energy and economic aid and normalised diplomatic ties.

The six-party talks group the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, Russia and host China. The last session, which was held in December -- two months after Pyongyang dramatically raised the stakes by holding a nuclear test -- yielded no breakthrough.

FINANCIAL DISPUTE The December session bogged down over Pyongyang's complaints about a US financial crackdown that led to Macau freezing 24 million dollar in North Korean accounts. The US Treasury said in September 2005 that Macau's Banco Delta Asia had helped Pyongyang launder earnings from counterfeit US dollars and illicit drugs.

US Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Daniel Glaser today resumed talks with North Korean officials in Beijing over the financial dispute. The last talks were in December.

After three hours of discussions, he told reporters the two sides had ''established a framework'' for more negotiations.

But he said US investigators had gone through over 300,000 pages of documents on the bank case to establish their claims.

''Everything that we've see through these documents has confirmed what we've been saying -- that there's really been a lot of troubling activity ongoing at that bank,'' he said.

Glaser also said that US Secret Service officials presented North Korean officials with their findings about the North's counterfeiting of US money.

The announcement of more six-party negotiations followed unprecedented talks in Berlin between chief US negotiator Christopher Hill and his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye-gwan, raising hopes for progress this time.

After Beijing's announcement, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the next round of nuclear talks should produce results.

''I believe pressure from the international community on North Korea will increase unless results are seen,'' Abe told reporters.

Hill told Reuters yesterday that North Korea's commitment to give up its nuclear weapons was ''strong'' and Washington would not allow other issues to undercut a nuclear deal.

Hill declined to reveal details of what might emerge from the Beijing talks but said ''we have the basis of a good six-party meeting''. He leaves this weekend for talks in Seoul and Tokyo.

Russian negotiator Alexander Losyukov told RIA Novosti news agency that he would go to Beijing with ''cautious optimism''.

REUTERS SSC BD1919