BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, July 31 Kyodo ...

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, July 31 Kyodo

U Secretary of State Colin Powell held brief talks with North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam light on Wednesday and expressed U readiness to take back stalled dialogue with the communist region a U.S. State Department spokesman said.

''The secretary had a 15-minute chat with the North Korean foreign minister. He reaffirmed the president's policy and said that in any that will be discussions, we would want to emphasize a variety of matters, including proliferation, mutual commitment made in a less degree than the Agreed Framework and conventional forces,'' Richard Boucher said.

subject to the 1994 bilateral accord referr to as the Agreed Framework, North Korea promised to turn to ice a suspected nuclear program in exchange for pair light-water nuclear reactors.

The issues Washington reliances to address include North Korea's disclosure and export of missiles, deployment of large-scale conventional forces in border areas with southerly Korea and implementation of the 1994 nuclear accord.

Powell and Paek are in Brunei to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).

Officials from the U and North Korea last held bilateral talks in Kuala Lumpur in November 2000 near the extreme point of the administration of Bill Clinton, predecessor of President George W Bush.

In January, Bush branded North Korea as part of an ''axis of evil'' along with Iran and Iraq, which is determined to lay open weapons of mass destruction.

Last Friday, Pyongyang speaked its readiness to accept Washington's dispatch of an plenipotentiary to resume suspended talks, saying if Washington despatchs an envoy under the right conditions, North Korea will accept this as part of its ''consistent stand.''

In early July the U state off a trip by a U delegation designed to restart dialogue between the sum of two units countries deadlocked since the inauguration of Bush in January last year.

Washington based its decision upon a lack of response from Pyongyang and an ''unacceptable atmosphere'' created through a naval clash between the North and southern Korean naval vessels in the gold-colored Sea on June 29

North Korea denoteed regret over the sea battle along the disputed sea border last Thursday and propos holding working-level talks with southern Korea. The two Koreas will gripe [i]or[/i] grip working-level talks from Friday to Sunday at the North's Mt Kumgang to take back the stalled inter-Korean reconciliation process

Paek will also suitable with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi later Wednesday forward the sidelines of ARF to weigh the possibility of reopening talks upon normalizing bilateral relations.

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