The statement came at the end of a visit by US Undersecretaries of State Nicholas Burns and Robert Joseph.

They arrived from Japan and will travel on to China to seek a united front in the talks, and strict enforcement of UN sanctions imposed on the North after its October 9 nuclear test. Russia is also a member of the six-nation forum.

"Both parties shared the view that North Korea's nuclear test is a grave threat to peace and security on the Korean peninsula, Northeast Asia and beyond," the South Korean-US statement said. "They welcomed the recent agreement to resume the six-party talks, and highlighted the importance of maintaining a unified voice in the international community through full and effective implementation of the UN Security Council (sanctions) Resolution 1718.

"Both parties reaffirmed the position that North Korea will not be recognized as a nuclear-weapon state."

North Korea, which has festooned Pyongyang with banners hailing the test, is demanding it be treated as a member of the nuclear club when the talks resume.

However there are doubts about whether it has the capability yet to deliver a nuclear weapon, either by plane or missile.

"The United States does not want to see North Korea's hand strengthened at the upcoming talks by recognizing it as a nuclear-armed state," said the Sejong Institute's Paik Hak-Soon.

The two sides said they looked forward to achieving agreement soon on ways to implement the joint statement of September last year on denuclearisation.

Under that deal the North agreed in principle to scrap its nuclear programmes in exchange for energy, economic aid and security guarantees. But it boycotted the six-party forum two months later in protest at US-inspired curbs on its overseas bank accounts.

Washington has agreed to hold discussions on those curbs when talks resume.

"The two sides shared the view that progress should be made at the six-party talks and the talks should not be held for the sake of talks," said presidential spokesman Yoon Tae-Young after a meeting between Burns and Song Min-Soon, chief presidential secretary for security.

Song is to become South Korea's next foreign minister, replacing Ban Ki-Moon whom Burns also met. Ban will be the next UN secretary general.

The visiting US officials praised the strength of the US-South Korean alliance, which dates back to the 1950-53 war launched by the North. Areas of potential disagreement were sidestepped.

South Korea has pledged to honour the UN sanctions but refuses to drop its "sunshine" engagement policy with the North, the source of much domestic criticism since the test.

It is also resisting US pressure to join the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) to inspect cargos to and from North Korea -- as provided for under the sanctions -- for fear of serious naval clashes.

A group of 20 activists protested outside the foreign ministry where the talks were held.

"We oppose the war-sparking PSI," they shouted. Some 50 riot police kept them at bay.

Also not on the agenda were two cross-border projects that have earned North Korea almost one billion dollars. Critics say the proceeds could have gone to produce missiles and nuclear weapons.

earlier related report
US, Japan plot action on North Korea sanctions
Tokyo (AFP) Nov 7 - The number-two at the US Treasury Department called Tuesday for implementation of UN sanctions against North Korea as he coordinated Washington's approach with Japan.

US Deputy Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmit held talks with Foreign Minister Taro Aso on the shape of the sanctions imposed after North Korea tested an atomic bomb last month.

Kimmit held talks one day after two US undersecretaries of state visited Tokyo for consultations ahead of the resumption of six-way negotiations on ending North Korea's nuclear program.

"The agreement was that we would continue to live up to our responsibilities under UN Security Council resolutions 1695 and 1718 and we look forward to working bilaterally and with other members of the international community to live up to those very important resolutions," Kimmitt said.

The Security Council passed resolutions 1695 and 1718 after North Korea launched missiles on July 5 and tested its first atom bomb on October 9.

The first resolution bans sales or transfers to North Korea that would assist its missile program. The second goes further, demanding North Korea suspend its nuclear weapons and missile programs and paving the way for potential inspections of cargo ships.

Aso said it was important that China, South Korea, Japan, the United States and Russia tighten cooperation as six-party talks are set to resume, according to a foreign ministry statement.

Aso also reiterated Japan's demand that the six-party talks address North Korea's past kidnappings of Japanese nationals.

Japan and the United States have championed a tough line against the reclusive communist state by slapping tough economic sanctions and freezing Pyongyang's overseas financial assets.

Kimmit said he and Aso also discussed measures to prevent Iran from taking the same path as North Korea by developing an atom bomb.

"We talked about actions that we could take together perhaps in the United Nations to keep Iran from moving towards a nuclear bomb and stopping its reprocessing actions," he said.

earlier related report
Blair says NKorea will only respond to 'firmness'
Tokyo (AFP) Nov 7 - British Prime Minister Tony Blair called Tuesday for a united international message to North Korea, saying the communist state would only respond to "firmness".

Blair applauded China's role in persuading North Korea to agree on October 31 to return to six-nation talks on ending its nuclear program, just weeks after Pyongyang defiantly tested an atom bomb.

"The one thing I think we can be sure of in a situation like this is that the only language that will be understood by the North Korean regime is one of firmness," Blair told a conference in Tokyo via satellite.

"That's the reason why I welcome what China said about this issue as well. The firmer we are the more likely we are to succeed," he said.

China, North Korea's main ally, condemned the nuclear test and supported a tough UN Security Council resolution imposing sanctions.

But China has been hesitant about calls for stronger action by the United States and Japan, including inspection of North Korean cargo ships.

"The six-party talks will succeed if the main countries engaged in them stick together and give a strong and firm message," Blair said.

"What is really important in this situation is that China, Japan and everybody involved makes it absolutely clear to the regime in North Korea that this is not acceptable," he said.

The six-way talks, which began in 2003, involve China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the United States.

Blair, a close ally of US President George W. Bush, said he expected the talks on North Korea to be hard-going.

He contrasted North Korea and Libya, whose long-pariah leader Moamer Kadhafi redeemed himself in Western eyes after renouncing his weapons program in 2003.

"I'm afraid," Blair said, "it's only really when such a regime is prepared to embrace the modern world in a full way that (it has) a motivation to make the changes in terms of its stance on weapons of mass destruction."

"So I think it's going to be very tough for North Korea, very tough indeed," he said.

The six-way talks reached a general deal in September 2005 for the North to give up its weapons programs in exchange for security guarantees and aid. But Pyongyang boycotted negotiations soon afterward in response to US financial sanctions.

North Korea -- derided in 2002 by Bush as part of an "axis of evil" along with Iran and Saddam Hussein's Iraq -- said it tested the atom bomb to defend itself from US hostility.

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