US to resume North Korea talks

Progress was made after a South Korean envoy met Kim Jong-il

The White House has indicated that it will accept North Korea's offer to renew security talks for the first time in 18 months.

"We anticipate these talks will begin," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, adding that details would be worked out in the coming days.

The US is likely to send Jack Pritchard, a Koreas expert

Mr Fleischer said that talks without preconditions had been proposed by President George W Bush in June "to address a broad range of the United States' concerns with regard to North Korea's missile programme and exports" and other security issues.

North Korea's latest offer was made through its mission to the United Nations and proposed that the talks be held in Pyongyang.

The diplomatic progress follows a visit by a South Korean presidential envoy earlier this month during which Pyongyang signalled its willingness to resume talks.

Interests on both sides

The US is likely to send senior State Department official Jack Pritchard, the BBC's Jon Leyne reports from Washington.

After Mr Bush showed little initial enthusiasm for continuing the security talks begun under the Clinton administration, North Korea refused to resume them when invited to do so last June.

President Bush angered Pyongyang with his "axis of evil" comments

Things were not helped when the country was designated part of an "axis of evil" by President Bush, our correspondent says.

Washington wants to stop North Korea being able to produce weapons of mass destruction and also to reduce the huge army facing its ally, South Korea.

In return, the North Koreans will be looking to extract as much aid as they can to keep alive their deeply troubled economy.

On Monday, Reuters news agency reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had invited former US President Bill Clinton to play a mediating role.

But North Korea denied on Wednesday that it had made the invitation.

"Reuters of Britain reported that the DPRK has invited former US President Clinton to Pyongyang. In this regard, we make it clear that no such invitation has been made," said a statement issued by the state-run Korea Central News Agency.