They met at president-elect Lee Myung-Bak's office in central Seoul as Hill prepared to leave for Beijing on the latest leg of his regional tour after the communist North missed a key disarmament deadline.

Lee, who formally takes office on February 25, insists North Korea should first remove all its nuclear weapons before having meaningful aid and economic assistance from the South.

Hill, who wants a quick resumption of six-party disarmament talks, called Wednesday for patience over the stalemate, saying none of the nations involved -- both Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States -- wanted to walk away.

North Korea missed a key December 31 deadline to disable its main nuclear facilities and give a full declaration of its atomic programmes in return for economic aid under a deal agreed in February 2007.

The US envoy has urged Pyongyang to provide a complete list of its nuclear programmes to keep the six-nation disarmament process going.