The US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs arrived in Beijing late Tuesday after a three-day visit to Japan and is scheduled to move on to Seoul later Wednesday.

Washington's lead official on North Korea made no comment as he left his hotel and the US embassy declined to go into detail about his agenda.

"He is meeting members of China's foreign ministry before heading to Seoul. They are discussing issues relevant to North Korea's nuclear weapons program and other bilateral issues," said an embassy spokeswoman.

It appears that another round of talks aimed at resolving the standoff which erupted in October last year will take place in the middle of next month.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said in Moscow Tuesday a firm date would be fixed before the end of November.

South Korea's top presidential security aide has said more talks would probably take place from December 17-18 in Beijing, although China and the United States insist nothing had been confirmed.

Losyukov will visit Washington on November 24-25 to meet Kelly, meaning the United States will have consulted directly with all parties to the negotiations bar the Stalinist state.

China, the North's closest ally, persuaded Pyongyang to attend another round of discussions at a rare meeting in the hermit state between Chinese parliamentary leader Wu Bangguo and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il last month.

Beijing hosted an inconclusive round of talks with the United States, the two Koreas, Japan and Russia in August.

Kelly began his swing through Asia Sunday in Japan amid renewed hopes for a resolution after the North's official Korean Central News Agency indicated Pyongyang had dropped its long-standing demand for a non-aggression treaty before it scraps its nuclear ambitions.

North Korea has demanded that the Bush administration make assurances that it would not attack the country, would provide economic and humanitarian aid and open diplomatic ties

China called the gesture "sincere" and urged all sides to continue efforts at resolving the issue "in the spirit of flexibility and pragmatism".

In Japan, officials said Kelly and Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi discussed a written security guarantee for North Korea in exchange for a verifiable and irreversible end to its atomic weapons programme.

A succession of moves by North Korea to overtly revive its nuclear weapons program has sharply heightened tensions in the region since Kelly said last year the North had admitted running a secret uranium-enrichment program in violation of a 1994 accord with the United States.

On Tuesday, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the United States was right to pursue a diplomatic approach to the North Korean problem, working with other countries to put pressure on Pyongyang to moderate its behavior.

WAR.WIRE