"The United States now realizes that China is in the driver's seat in the six-party talks and wants to do things for North Korea," a diplomat close to the watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told AFP.

Another IAEA diplomat said: "China wants to be as loyal as possible to the six-party declaration made in Beijing," referring to the breakthrough earlier this month in negotiations joining North Korea, the United States, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea.

The agreement mentions the possibility of Pyongyang receiving light-water reactors to generate nuclear power.

In talks at the IAEA's 139-nation general conference this week in Vienna, the United States does not want light-water reactors to be mentioned in the proposed resolution on North Korea, diplomats said.

US spokesman Matthew Boland said: "Discussions are ongoing." He did not provide details. The IAEA conference ends Friday.

The breakthrough agreement has led to bickering over how quickly Pyongyang should move on its promises and how quickly it will get promised incentives, especially the light-water reactors.

North Korea had agreed in Beijing to a statement of principles on abandoning its atomic weapons in return for energy and security guarantees.

North Korea said it would scrap its weapons, return to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and accept IAEA inspectors in return for security guarantees, economic benefits and energy aid.

The statement said North Korea's demand for light-water reactors would be considered at an "appropriate" time.

The North has since warned it would not dismantle its nuclear arsenal until the United States delivered light-water reactors to allow it to generate power, casting doubt over its commitment to the statement.

The United States wants North Korea to first dismantle its nuclear arms program before its get incentive bonuses, the top US envoy to the six-party talks aimed said in Washington Wednesday.

Christopher Hill said he had rejected a demand by Pyongyang for an interim period allowing a freeze of their nuclear operations ahead of the dismantlement.

"I am not interested in having a discussion with them about freezing this operation," Hill said, citing a US-North Korea accord in 1994 which Pyongyang allegedly reneged on after agreeing to freeze its nuclear program in exchange for energy assistance and other concessions.

The six-party talks are to resume in early November to discuss verification and other measures.

North Korea's violation of the 1994 Agreed Framework triggered a nuclear crisis in October 2002, when the United States accused Pyongyang of running a secret uranium-enrichment program.

North Korea denied the claims, but responded by throwing out IAEA inspectors and withdrawing from the NPT, which authorizes the IAEA monitoring.

In February this year North Korea admitted having built nuclear weapons.

The IAEA's 35-nation board of governors had last week "urged the DPRK (North Korea) to completely dismantle any nuclear weapons program in a prompt, transparent, verifiable and irreversible manner, maintaining the essential verification role of the IAEA," in a statement from the board's chairwoman, Canadian ambassador Ingrid Hall.

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