Q+A: Where do the sputtering N.Korea nuclear talks stand?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The on-again, off-again effort to tempt North Korea to abandon its nuclear programs will be one of the main topics under discussion when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Asia next week.

Clinton is scheduled to visit Tokyo, Jakarta, Seoul and Beijing during her eight-day trip, her first as the top U.S. diplomat. Below are questions and answers on the "six-party" talks designed to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

WHAT ARE THE SIX-PARTY TALKS?

They are discussions among North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States designed to rein in North Korea's atomic programs in exchange for economic and diplomatic incentives. The talks, which are hosted by China, began in August 2003 and were last held in December 2008.

WHAT HAVE THEY ACHIEVED?

Under the talks, North Korea has agreed to abandon all its nuclear weapons and programs, to make a complete and accurate declaration of its nuclear programs, and to disable, and eventually dismantle, its aging nuclear complex at Yongbyon.

In exchange, in a step-by-step set of rewards, the other five nations agreed to provide the poor, communist state with heavy fuel oil and held out the possibility of other economic and political benefits.

North Korea last year made extensive efforts to disable Yongbyon, provided a partial declaration of its nuclear programs and blew up a cooling tower at the nuclear complex.

The declaration did not address U.S. suspicions the North had a uranium enrichment program, which would have given it another path to nuclear weapons beyond its plutonium-based program at Yongbyon, nor did it address any nuclear weaponry.

WHY ARE THE TALKS STALLED?

The key sticking point for the United States is the North's refusal to commit to a verification regime that would allow the other nations to check the accuracy of its nuclear declaration.

North Korea argues that the other five nations have failed to keep their end of the bargain because they have not provided it heavy fuel oil at the pace expected.

A last ditch effort by the administration of former U.S. President George W. Bush to nail down a written verification protocol ended in failure in December, effectively suspending the process as the Republican left office on January 20 and was replaced by U.S. President Barack Obama, a Democrat.

WHERE DO THE TALKS GO FROM HERE?

Clinton has made clear Washington plans to stick to the six-party process, a mechanism that U.S. officials believe strengthens their hand because the group of nations can offer more carrots, as well as sticks, than the United States alone.

In one sign of movement, the State Department on Wednesday said that it would send a delegation to Moscow next week for a gathering of a six-party working group on "Northeast Asia Peace and Security Mechanism."

Sources familiar with the matter also said that Clinton was expected to name Stephen Bosworth, a former U.S. ambassador to South Korea, to be the U.S. envoy to the six-party talks.

Clinton's Asia trip is designed in part to consult Japan, South Korea and China about how to move forward in the talks.

(Reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Eric Beech)