U.S. envoy hopes for 6-party N.Korea talks in March

By Grant McCool

HANOI (Reuters) - The top U.S. negotiator on North Korea said on Monday that he still held out hope for resumption of six-party talks this month on a stalled nuclear disarmament agreement.

The 2005 accord is bogged down over Pyongyang's failure to make a declaration by the end of last year that it had abandoned all nuclear weapons and programmes in exchange for economic and diplomatic benefits.

"If we can resolve these matters in the next few weeks, which I think is possible, I think we could depending on the views of the Chinese host, get together for a 6-party meeting to plan the next phase," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said at a news conference during a one-day visit to Vietnam.

"Time is short so I hope we can get on with that this month."

Hill, on a 16-day trip to Asia, made a special visit to Beijing on Saturday and met Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, but he was stood up by North Korean' top nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-gwan. Hill said he was scheduled to leave Hanoi on Monday night to return to the United States.

North Korea, which tested a nuclear device in October 2006, has shut down its Yongbyon reactor in accordance with the agreement at multilateral talks that include North and South Korea, the United States, Japan, Russia and China.

U.S. officials and analysts say the main sticking point is North Korea's reluctance to discuss any transfers of nuclear technology, notably to Syria, as well as its suspected pursuit of uranium enrichment.