U.S. vote 'stalls N. Korea talks'
 |  Britain's Rammell has just completed a four-day visit to North Korea. |
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 Six-nation talks end without breakthrough
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(CNN) -- The U.S. presidential election is apparently a factor in stalling multi-party talks over North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
Some diplomats say Pyongyang is holding out to see if a new U.S. president would take a softer line than the current administration.
President George W. Bush referred to North Korea as part of an "axis of evil" in his 2002 State of the Union speech.
Shortly after arriving in Beijing from North Korea, British Foreign Office minister Bill Rammell said hopes for a September round of talks were evaporating.
"Certainly one of the factors that I think they are considering -- and I discussed this issue with them in detail -- is the timing of the American presidential election," he said.
"And I made clear to them my view that whoever wins the presidential election ... North Korea will be faced with broadly the same strategic policy..."
Delegates attending six-party talks in Beijing in June involving South Korea, China, Russia, Japan and the United States, had agreed to hold a fourth round by the end of this month.
But on August 16, North Korea said it would not participate in working-level meetings connected to the six-party talks.
"I simply said to them, 'You have got to come back to the table,"' Rammell said.
In recent days, Russian, Chinese and Japanese officials have encouraged their North Korean counterparts to resume participation.
The nuclear standoff began two years ago, when the U.S. said North Korean officials had admitted to pursuing a secret nuclear weapons program.
U.S. envoy James Kelly says he is disappointed that Pyongyang is "stalling," and China, which hosts the talks, acknowledges that the time set at the previous round to meet again in September is running out.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry says all sides will have to redouble their efforts and be flexible to get the talks back on track, but added that "the sky will not collapse" if talks done resume this month.
After a visit to Pyongyang last month, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said there was "real hope" that the six-party talks would continue.
"I'm hopeful now the process can yield a positive result," he said.
But Downer conceded Pyongyang had not confirmed its officials would be attending the fourth round of talks.
The North Korean foreign ministry statement in August accused the United States of not being interested in a meaningful dialogue and said there were no plans to shut down the country's nuclear facilities.
China said last month the six nations found some common ground in the third round of talks, with all parties agreeing that a freeze of the North's nuclear program should be a first step. But an official said that the United States and North Korea were still poles apart.
A key issue separating the two is Washington's claim that the North is operating a secret uranium-based nuclear program in addition to its declared program based on plutonium.
The North denies having a uranium program, but Washington says it must be included in any settlement.
The United States has labeled the reclusive North part of an "axis of evil" alongside Iran and pre-war Iraq.
North Korea has offered to freeze its nuclear program in exchange for compensation, including large amounts of energy aid.
