US sees six-nation talks on NKorea in early July

TOKYO: US envoy Christopher Hill on Wednesday said he expects six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear disarmament to resume soon after the July 4 US Independence Day holiday.

"I would think it would be early July," Hill, the US point man on North Korea, told reporters in Tokyo when asked when the next round will take place.

"I'd rather not on the Fourth of July, but I would like it immediately after," he said.

Hill was also open for a meeting of foreign ministers of the six nations -- China, Japan, the two Koreas, Russia and the United States -- on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in the Philippines on August 2.

"I think that the ARF is one possible opportunity for having the six-party ministerial, but ... it needs to be well-planned," he said. "And that's why we're concerned about trying to get the six-party meeting as soon as possible."

The US has insisted on the six-nation format to solve the North Korean nuclear row, but Hill has nonetheless met repeatedly one-on-one with his North Korean counterpart.

"We have tried to do that in the past and will try to do that in the future," Hill said of bilateral talks on the sidelines of the six-way talks.

His remarks came as he said that UN inspectors were set to return to North Korea to monitor the shutting down of its nuclear reactor.

North Korea agreed in February to disable the Yongbyon reactor but refused to act until it received more than USD 20 million previously frozen in a Macau bank by the US.