WASHINGTON, Jan 8: The United States said on Tuesday it was willing to talk to North Korea, but warned that the communist state would get no new incentives to halt its nuclear programmes.

What amounted to a shift of nuance in US policy came in a statement released at talks among senior US, Japanese and South Korean diplomats, hours after another round of North Korean sabre rattling.

President George Bush’s administration had previously rejected all dialogue until the isolated pariah state halted its two nuclear weapons programmes.

“The US delegation explained that the United States is willing to talk to North Korea about how it will meet its obligations to the international community,” the statement said.

“However, the US delegation stressed that the United States will not provide quid pro quos for North Korea to live up to its existing obligations.”

“It’s an unconditional offer to talk to North Korea about how it can meet its international obligations,” said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, but signalled Pyongyang had to make the first move.

An earlier draft of the text used stiffer vocabulary, saying that Washington would not “negotiate with North Korea in response to blackmail or threats”, but the warning was toned down in the final version.

“We were opposed to paying again for the same agreements that have been reached before,” said Boucher.

Under a 1994 anti-nuclear deal with Pyongyang, Washington provided massive quantities of fuel oil — an aid spigot turned off after North Korea in October admitted that it was developing nuclear weapons in violation of the pact.

Many US officials believe North Korea seeks to bargain away its nuclear programmes for substantial financial aid, a process they see as blackmail.

The evolution in the US position may be seen as a gesture to South Korean president-elect Roh Moo-hyun, despite his harsh criticisms of Washington’s hard line.

But Washington is still adamant that only by renouncing the nuclear option can Pyongyang expect a full negotiating track.

“This is a step out, it is a step forward from what we have been doing, now we have wait for the North Koreans to respond,” said a senior State Department official on condition of anonymity.

A senior official said the United States envisaged the new talks would focus on how Pyongyang could verify that it had taken a decision to dismantle nuclear production.

Bush had on Monday issued another verbal assurances that he had no military intentions towards North Korea.

“I believe that by working with countries in the region, diplomacy will work,” he added in Chicago.

Boucher said that a copy of the joint statement had been delivered to the North Korean delegation at the United Nations.

“North Korea has to be willing to meet its obligations for this to serve any particular purpose,” the official said.

Japan, South Korea and the United States also called in the statement for North Korea to eliminate all its nuclear weapons programmes.

“They reiterated their intention to pursue a peaceful and diplomatic resolution of the issue,” the statement said.

The statement also expressed support for continued dialogues between South Korea and its northern neighbour and Japan and Pyongyang.

South Korea had reportedly been pressing for a compromise solution to the US-North Korea showdown, including a written assurance from Washington that it would not attack North Korea.

But its representative, Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Tae-shik, said later that he was satisfied that the US and South Korean approaches were now consistent.

“We are pretty much in line with each other in terms of how we are going to deal with the situation,” Lee said at a press conference.

“Since the problem has been caused by the DPRK (North Korea) it is more than fair enough that North Korea should take first steps in the positive direction to lay the ground for satisfactory solutions,” said Lee. —AFP