The "informal trilateral meeting" April 7-8 "is part of our continuous, ongoing dialogue about North Korea policy," a US official said. "I don't expect any major announcements."

The three countries together with Russia and China are involved in so-called six-party talks with North Korea to help resolve the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula.

The second round of six-party talks, held in China in February, agreed to set up a working group but failed to achieve a breakthrough in the nuclear standoff.

US State Department official Joseph DeTrani discussed preparations for the third round of talks with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi, one of Beijing's top North Korea hands, in Beijing on Thursday.

State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said the informal talks would include the format of the working group.

"The focus will be coordinating positions on the first session of the six-party working group, which has not yet been scheduled," he said.

The parties hope to hold the first working group session in late April, Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) reported this week.

Meeting in San Francisco will by James Kelly, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Mitoji Yabunaka, director of the Japanese foreign ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, and South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo Hyuck.

The three led their countries' delegations in the six-party talks in February.

Washington accused North Korea in October 2002 of having a program to enrich uranium and demanded that the Stalinist state completely and verifiably dismantle its nuclear programs.

Pyongyang has sought security guarantees and economic aid in return for denuclearization while Washington has insisted that a verifiable dismantling of its nuclear program come first.

WAR.WIRE