N. Korea talks close, says Downer
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North Korea has indicated it will start talks on the nuclear weapons impasse soon, Downer says.
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(CNN) -- North Korea has indicated it is prepared to resume talks on its nuclear arms program soon, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Tuesday.
One round of talks involving North and South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia was held in Beijing in August but ended inconclusively.
"They have indicated they are prepared to resume talks and before too long, within a reasonable time frame," Downer said, after being briefed by an Australian delegation visiting North Korea.
North Korea's official KCNA news agency said Monday talks on the nuclear issue had been held between the Australian delegation and Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Kim Yong-il, who headed the North Korean delegation at the first round of the six-way talks.
Reuters reports that in South Korea, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly met South Korea's Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun and Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon.
"We very much hope that the six-party talks can resume before much longer," said Kelly, who indicated they could happen this month.
Stepping up the diplomatic push, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage is in Japan, expressing similar optimism and calling the current impasse a "dangerous and unstable situation", Reuters reports.
Downer said the Australian delegation, which arrived in the North Korean capital Pyongyang on Saturday for three days of talks, had been well received by senior North Korean officials.
"They have had a good hearing of their representation on obviously resuming the six-party talks and making sure some sort of process is put in place for nuclear disarmament in North Korea," Downer said.
"We hope that further statements will be made by North Korea before too long," he said.
Australia is one of the few Western countries to have diplomatic relations with North Korea. Australia restored relations in May 2000 as Pyongyang began to emerge from its Cold War isolation and the North opened a mission in the Australian capital, Canberra, in 2002.
"A constructive, diplomatic solution to North Korea's nuclear crisis, which escalated just over a year ago, is vital for the security of our region and stability in North Asia and among our allies and top trading partners," Downer said Friday.
The North Korean crisis erupted in October 2002 when U.S. officials said Pyongyang had admitted pursuing a secret uranium enrichment project for nuclear weapons.
Reuters reported Downer said the talks are the most viable mechanism for "finding a peaceful and lasting solution to the nuclear issue."
The South Korean news agency, Yonhap, reported Friday that South Korea, the U.S. and Japan agreed during last week's policy consultations in Washington to demand North Korea "allow inspection of its nuclear facilities as part of a first step of action".
"Regardless of whether North Korea freezes its nuclear facilities or moves to dismantle its nuclear weapons programs as the 'first step,' we see that it requires an inspection," a senior foreign ministry official told Yonhap.
"That's the common view shared by the three countries."
Methods and other details of the inspection were not discussed at the talks.
