WASHINGTON, Jan 12: The US State Department said on Saturday that the North Korean delegates did not address the issues that concern the international community at the talks in New Mexico but Washington would keep the channels of communication open.

“While the delegates were in New Mexico, North Korea continued to take steps in the wrong direction,” State Department spokeswoman Nancy Beck said at a news briefing.

She said the North Korean decision to “withdraw from the non-proliferation treaty and the threat to resume missile testing” were particularly disturbing.

The spokeswoman said Secretary of State Colin Powell had received “telephone reports” from New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson about his talks with a North Korean delegation in Santa Fe and “looks forward to his final report”.

She said the North Korean delegation did express its willingness to have a dialogue and “the United States is prepared to talk about how North Korea will meet its obligations to the international community”.

“Unfortunately, the North Korean delegates apparently did not address the issues of concern to the international community” at their talks with Governor Richardson, said the State Department official.

“We will look carefully at every thing the North Koreans said in New Mexico and the usual channels of communication remain open,” she said. Earlier on Saturday, Mr Richardson told reporters he believed “firmly ... there will be a peaceful resolution through dialogue and diplomacy” of the North Korean nuclear crisis.

Richardson, a Democrat and former ambassador to the United Nations, concluded three days of what he called “positive, constructive” talks with North Korea’s UN delegation. Deputy ambassador Han Song Ryol and other North Korean representatives were given special permission to travel to Santa Fe to meet him.

After almost nine hours of meetings, Richardson and Han “discussed issues very frankly but in a positive atmosphere”, the governor told reporters at a news conference before taking Han back to the airport.

“Ambassador Han expressed to me — and this is encouraging — that North Korea wants to have better relations with the United States.”

Richardson also related that “the government of North Korea wants to solve the nuclear issues with dialogue. ... North Korea has no intention to build nuclear weapons”.