The United States, Japan and South Korea urged North Korea on Saturday to return to nuclear disarmament talks without delay, indicating they would not give the communist state any rewards before the negotiations resume. The three allies also urged China _ North Korea's last remaining major ally and key supplier of energy and trade _ to play a bigger role in persuading the North that returning to the talks was in its interest. The unified stance was forged when top negotiators from the three allies met in Seoul to discuss how to deal with North Korea's recent announcement that it has nuclear weapons and was boycotting six-nation talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons ambitions. "We agreed to urge North Korea to return to the meeting without delay so that it can have wide-ranging discussions on matters of its concern and all other issues," South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon told reporters after Saturday's meeting. The meeting, the first of its kind since the North's Feb. 10 announcement, were also attended by Kenichiro Sasae, director-general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asia-Oceania bureau; and Christopher Hill, the U.S. ambassador to Seoul who has been named Washington's top negotiator in the North Korean nuclear dispute. Hill declined to make comments, except calling Saturday's consultations an "excellent meeting." But Sasae told reporters that North Korea must rejoin the talks "without any conditions."
