SEOUL - South Korea raised North Korea`s worrisome nuclear program again as the rival nations sought to wrap up their first face-to-face talks in 10 months Thursday, as word emerged of a secret meeting last week between U.S. and North Korean officials.
The focus of both efforts was to get Pyongyang to rejoin six-nation negotiations on the denuclearization, but the reclusive communist country - which regularly uses brinksmanship to wring aid from the West - was clearly resisting any public commitment.
The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo said U.S. officials met with North Korean officials in New York last week. "This channel is used to convey messages about U.S. policy, not to negotiate," an embassy official said on condition of anonymity.
Japan`s Asahi newspaper reported that senior U.S. State Department officials went to North Korea`s U.N. office with assurances that Washington recognizes North Korea as a sovereign nation under the leadership of Kim Jong Il and that the Bush administration does not intend to attack it.
Kyodo News agency, citing anonymous sources, reported that North Korea responded that it would have a response to the discussions in two weeks.
While Seoul on Thursday pressed to get some mention of the nuclear issue in a final joint statement at the talks in the North Korean border town of Kaesong, it also was working to salvage some good will, saying that normalizing strained relations was the top priority.
South Korea has found itself walking a tightrope during the talks, trying to appease domestic pressure for some improvement in relations with the North.
"An agreement will be reached," North Korea`s chief negotiator Kim Man Gil said.
However, an agreement seemed more likely on setting up a Cabinet-level meeting next month than any real progress on breaking the nuclear impasse.
Vice Unification Minister Rhee Bong-jo, head of the South`s delegation, reported he brought up the nuclear issue again, as he said he has during every session since the talks opened on Monday.
"We repeatedly emphasized that North Korea return to the peaceful resolution of North Korean nuclear issue and the fourth round of six-party talks," Rhee told reporters.
The last time U.S. officials had contact with North Korean officials appeared to be a January congressional delegation to Pyongyang led by Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. Weldon said after that trip that North Korea appeared ready to negotiate "in a matter of weeks."
The Bush administration earlier this month offered a couple of carrots to the North - direct talks and recognition of its sovereignty - in a bid to derail its nuclear weapons program.
But Washington has also talked tough with Pyongyang, saying that a nuclear test would be punished, and that the U.S. had not ruled out bringing the case before the U.N. Security Council for consideration of sanctions.
North Korea claimed in February that it has nuclear weapons and said it would indefinitely boycott six-party arms talks - stalled since last June - until Washington drops its "hostile" policy. It said last week it would strengthen its nuclear arsenal and that it had removed spent fuel rods from a reactor, a possible step toward extracting weapons-grade plutonium.
Washington has resisted direct negotiations sought by North Korea but has said it was willing to hold discussions with Pyongyang in the context of the six-party talks involving the United States, China, Japan, Russia and the two Koreas.
On Monday, South Korea promised a major new "proposal" if the North returns to the nuclear bargaining table. No details on the proposal were given, but South Korean media speculated that Seoul would offer massive aid to the North.
U.S. officials reported last week that spy satellites spotted construction of a tunnel and a reviewing stand in North Korea - possible indications of a coming nuclear test. South Korean officials have dismissed such reports as lacking firm evidence.