range missile tests if Washington failed to meet its demands. In Washington overnight, U.S. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said that such a threat was «not helpful and doesn't serve a useful purpose. And I think it's not consistent with the spirit with the six-party talks.» Ereli reiterated the long-standing U.S. position that the six-party discussions on North Korea's nuclear programs should resume without preconditions. «If they have questions or issues that they want to address, then that's the place to do it,» Ereli said. Meanwhile, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda expressed hope Thursday that the six-way talks would resume soon, but denied having any specific information on their resumption. «I think North Korea is inching closer to (the resumption of talks) as we try to persuade the North,» Hosoda told reporters in Japan. «I expect that a decision to resume talks would be made soon.» --mor 1313 Local Time 1013 GMT
