U.S. calls for full implementation of UN resolution as eight nations meet on N.K.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called for full implementation of the U.N. Security Council resolution on North Korea at a meeting here Thursday addressing the communist nation's refusal to return to dialogue.

She also suggested another round of expanded multilateral talks on North Korea when foreign ministers gather in Hanoi in November, a message to the communist nation that concerns about its behavior are growing broader.

Representatives of South Korea, the U.S., Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Indonesia and the Philippines met on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York as pressure and diplomacy intensified to bring Pyongyang back to negotiations.

China and Russia, close allies to North Korea, refused to attend, taking away some impetus from the meeting.

"There has been no progress one year after a joint statement was adopted at the six-party talks," South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon told Yonhap in New York after Thursday's meeting.

"We exchanged views on how we would come up with the means to break the deadlock."

"We agreed to also discuss what measures to take should North Korea continue not to cooperate," said Ban.

South and North Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan are members of the so-called six-party process aimed at denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. They last met in November, after which Pyongyang refused to come back, citing hostile policies by Washington.

The U.S. Treasury took punitive steps against Banco Delta Asia (BDA), a Macau bank it accused of laundering money for North Korea at about the same time as the six nations announced a joint statement that commits Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons and programs in return for incentives provided by other parties.

The resumption of talks took on urgency after North Korea test-fired ballistic missiles in early July. The Security Council reacted with a unanimous resolution, Resolution 1695, condemning the action as a provocation and requiring U.N. members not to allow the transfer of funds and material that could help Pyongyang's missile and weapons of mass destruction programs.

Japan and Australia announced sanctions against North Korea on Sept. 19, the first anniversary of the six-party agreement.

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, briefing reporters in New York after the meeting, said Rice "encouraged all to follow the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1695."

The transcript of his briefing was made available through the State Department here.

Hill downplayed the no-show by China and Russia.

"They didn't say it was for policy reasons. It could have been for scheduling," he said, adding it was not a "snub."

At the same time, he said, "I won't name them, but several participants commented that they thought China should be doing more."

Foreign Minister Ban said Beijing and Moscow appear reluctant to come to the expanded talks because of their concerns that continuing the talks without North Korea will undermine resumption of the six-nation forum.

Rice also suggested they could meet again in Hanoi during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference, Hill said.

But no one is trying to replace the six-party forum, Hill emphasized.

"All participants, and starting with Secretary Rice, were at pains to make clear that we're not trying to substitute the six-party process," he said at the briefing.

The intended effect, Hill said, is to "show North Korea that there is a broader concern in the broader region" about its nuclear program.

On the BDA case, Hill indicated that a separate dialogue is possible with North Korea.

U.S. Treasury officials held a briefing for North Koreans in New York in March, trying to explain how the BDA designation was a law enforcement issue separate from six-party efforts.

"We've offered the North Koreans that...when they come back to the six-party talks, we could create some bilateral working group to deal with some of these financial matters," said Hill.

"Or we could continue the dialogue that we had in New York last spring where we had some Treasury experts and their experts."

The meeting was short, less than an hour, and participants spoke without notes, according to the U.S. official.

Foreign Minister Ban explained the food situation in North Korea, saying the country lacked 1.5 million tons in feeding its people, he said.

Canada input their efforts based on their existing bilateral channel with the North, he said.

Washington, Sept. 21 (Yonhap News)