Ambassador Thomas Schieffer said the five nations each had a "slightly different perspective" on the talks beginning Tuesday in Beijing, but that all agreed that North Korea posed a threat.

"I think at the end, the problem will not be whether the five parties are speaking with one voice. The problem would be whether or not North Korea is willing to forego nuclear weapons," Schieffer told a news conference.

South Korea has offered economic incentives for its isolated neighbor to disarm, a proposal met with skepticism by Washington and Tokyo.

Japan has pledged to raise with North Korea its abductions of Japanese citizens. South Korea says the issue would be a distraction, and North Korea signalled Wednesday it would shun Japan if the kidnappings come up.

Schieffer reiterated the US position that the abductions should be a secondary issue at the nuclear talks, which are resuming after more than a year.

"The issue of nuclear weapons is not the only issue that the United States has with North Korea. There are all sorts of issues, and the abductee issue is one of those that we have great concerns" over, Schieffer said.

"But the first thing we've got to do is to get nuclear weapons off the Korean Peninsula," he said.

Schieffer said all nations in the talks -- China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States -- had an interest in finally seeing progress in the nuclear talks.

"If North Korea was allowed to have nuclear weapons, it could be a direct threat to all of the five parties and to ... the stability of the region," Schieffer said.

"And because of this common ground, we approach North Korea with one voice," he added.

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