"We have a pretty good deal on the table," said US envoy Christopher Hill as he left his hotel for another session of talks with North Korean counterpart Kim Gye-gwan on the sideline of the six-nation negotiations.

"The deal consists of really a lot of what the DPRK (North Korea) should want -- security guarantees, a recognition package, access to international financial institutions, a very serious energy package," he said.

The six nations involved in the negotiations -- the two Koreas, Japan, Russia, China and the United States -- have so far made no progress since discussions resumed on Tuesday after a five-week recess, delegates said.

The talks, in their fourth round, are aimed at persuading North Korea, which says it has nuclear weapons, to give them up verifiably and irreversibly in exchange for security guarantees as well as energy and economic aid.

But they have become bogged down by Pyongyang's insistence that its right to atomic energy be included in a statement of principles the six nations are trying to adopt to denuclearize the Korean peninsula.

Differences of opinion between the six sides have became more apparent, with the United States and Japan insisting that light water reactors were out of the question while South Korea said "the window of opportunity" remained open.

China and Russia have also sided with North Korea on the nuclear energy issue, though not as vocally as Seoul.

"If their concern is electricity, there is a very generous electricity package here. If their concern is something else, they ought to tell us what that is," Hill said. "A light water reactor for us is a non-starter."

Kenichiro Sasae, Japan's chief delegate, also said it was not appropriate to discuss light water reactors at this stage, but did not rule it out it later.

"Basically, what is important is that North Korea commits itself to abandoning all of its nuclear programs and restoring its credibility as a pre-condition," he said.

"Subsequently, we may not categorically rule out a theoretical possibility that we think about what may be possible in the future. But at this point in time, we don't intend to take up the subject of a light water reactor."

Hill said it would take up to a decade to build a light-water reactor and cost two to three billion dollars, urging the North to instead accept a South Korean offer to run electricity cables across the border.

Under a now defunct 1994 agreement, two light-water reactors were to have been built by a US-led consortium to replace North Korea's existing graphite-moderated reactors, which can produce weapons-grade plutonium.

But construction was suspended after the United States in 2002 accused the North of developing a secret uranium-enrichment program.

It was not clear if North Korea wanted these reactors resurrected or if they wanted new ones, Hill said, repeating the US position that Pyongyang has acknowledged using its civilian program in the past as a cover for making weapons.

South Korean envoy Song Min-Soon said the possibility of light water reactors should remain an option, and urged the United States and North Korea to be flexible.

"It would be impossible to compromise on this issue without flexibility," he said. "Flexibility is an indispensible element to make the negotiations successful."

Failure to reach agreement in Beijing could prompt the United States to take the issue to the UN Security Council and press for sanctions.

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