US and North Korea 'held talks'

North Korea's nuclear plans are stoking concern

US officials held face-to-face meetings with counterparts from North Korea last Friday, urging them to rejoin six-party nuclear talks, the White House says.

"Working-level contacts" were held in New York, a spokesman said - the first direct talks since December.

North Korea has refused to engage in multilateral talks on its nuclear programme since last June.

On Thursday, bilateral talks between North and South Korea ended without a breakthrough in the crisis.

However, South Korea announced it would ship 200,000 tonnes of desperately-needed fertiliser to the North.

The two sides also said they had agreed to work towards peace in the region, and would hold further talks in June.

But there was no mention of North Korea's nuclear ambitions, which South Korea had wanted to be included in the discussions.

Test fear

In recent months, the North has declared itself a nuclear state, and claims to be building up its nuclear weapons arsenal.

There have also been reports that the communist state might be preparing a nuclear test.

North Korea last took part in talks on its nuclear programme in June

The regime in Pyongyang is refusing to return to the stalled nuclear talks with its neighbours and the US.

White House spokesman Trent Duffy said last week's talks were "used to reiterate the message directly that the North Koreans need to return to the six-party talks without conditions so we can pursue a policy of a nuclear-free peninsula".

In public, North Korea rejected any overtures, saying: "It was clear [the US] is trying to ignite a fire of nuclear war on the Korean peninsula."

Analysts saw the inter-Korean meeting - the first for 10 months - as a test of Seoul's willingness to use its economic leverage with the North.

The South Korean government has opposed any talk of sanctions against the North, frustrating hardliners in Washington who favour a more coercive approach.

The BBC's Seoul correspondent says the South Korean government faces a dilemma - on one hand it says it will not tolerate a nuclear North Korea, but it is also desperate not to antagonise its neighbour.

He adds that while it gave way over Pyongyang's demands for fertiliser last week, it was considered by some an achievement that the North completed the talks without walking out.