U.S. not seeking alternative to 6-party talks, for now

MANILA (Reuters) - The United States is not in a hurry to look for options other than the six-party talks on North Korea to get Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Monday.

Last week, U.S. officials said Gates told his counterparts from South Korea and Japan that while diplomacy was preferred in dealings with North Korea, other steps may be considered if it failed.

"With respect to the team that is visiting Tokyo, Seoul, Moscow and Beijing, I think it's important for us to take it a step at a time and I'd rather not presume that we will not be successful in gaining a broad agreement on the way forward," Gates told reporters in Manila.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg will lead a U.S. delegation to Asia this week to consult regional players on how to respond to North Korea's latest nuclear test.

"I think we ought to wait and see how those conversations go and how our partners in the six-party talks other than Pyongyang react to the developments of the last few weeks and see where we go from here diplomatically and I think I'd rather not speculate on what we might do after that," Gates said.

North Korea last week unleashed provocations rarely seen since the 1950-53 Korean War with the nuclear test that put it closer to having a working atomic bomb, short-range missile tests and threats to attack the South. It also warned of further measures if the United Nations tries to punish it.

On Monday, South Korean newspapers reported that the North could test-fire this month a long-range missile that could reach as far as the United States.

Asked about the reports of the missile test preparations, Gates said: "We have seen some signs that they may be doing something with another Taepodong-2 missile but at this point it's not clear what they're going to do."

(Reporting by Manny Mogato; Writing by Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)