U.S. envoy hopes for 6-party N.Korea talks in March

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill attends a news briefing in Hanoi March 3, 2008. Hill said on Monday that he still held out hope for resumption of six-party talks this month on a stalled nuclear disarmament agreement with North Korea.

HANOI (Reuters) - The top U.S. negotiator on North Korea said on Monday that he still held out hope for resumption of six-party talks this month on a stalled nuclear disarmament agreement.

The 2005 accord is bogged down over Pyongyang's failure to make a declaration by the end of last year that it had abandoned all nuclear weapons and programs in exchange for economic and diplomatic benefits.

"If we can resolve these matters in the next few weeks, which I think is possible, I think we could depending on the views of the Chinese host, get together for a 6-party meeting to plan the next phase," Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said at a news conference during a one-day visit to Vietnam.

"Time is short so I hope we can get on with that this month."

Hill, on a 16-day trip to Asia, made a special visit to Beijing on Saturday and met Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, but he was stood up by North Korean' top nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-gwan. Hill said he was scheduled to leave Hanoi on Monday night to return to the United States.

North Korea, which tested a nuclear device in October 2006, has shut down its Yongbyon reactor in accordance with the agreement at multilateral talks that include North and South Korea, the United States, Japan, Russia and China.

U.S. officials and analysts say the main sticking point is North Korea's reluctance to discuss any transfers of nuclear technology, notably to Syria, as well as its suspected pursuit of uranium enrichment.

ASEAN AND U.N.

Hill said that while in Hanoi he wanted to discuss U.S.-Vietnam relations, "strengthening" the Association of South East Asian Nations and Vietnam's tenure as a non-permanent member of the 2008-09 United Nations Security Council.

The diplomat said he was not asking Hanoi to take a role as a mediator with fellow-communist North Korea, but believed Vietnam could offer North Korea advice on developing its economy and fostering international relations.

"The economy is beginning to grow in a sustained way and joining the WTO, there is a lot of inspiration for other countries in Vietnam," said Hill, whose country restored ties with Hanoi in 1995, 20 years after the U.S. war in Vietnam ended.

Last year, Vietnam Communist Party chief Nong Duc Manh visited Pyongyang and North Korean Premier Kim Yong-Il, the man in charge of economic issues, visited Vietnam.

(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)