N Korea vows to work for 'result'

"The circumstance of the talks is better than the previous one, and we hope that we can cooperate closely with China and Russia," North Korea's chief delegate to the talks Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan was cited as saying by the Xinhua news agency as his party left Pyongyang airport

"We appreciate the efforts done by the Chinese side. We will do our best to make a good result at the talks," Kim told Wu Donghe, the Chinese ambassador to North Korea.

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China and Russia, two of the Stalinist nation's few friends, stepped up the pressure on their neighbour Monday, calling for "flexibility and sincerity" in the talks over the North Korean nuclear weapons program.

While Pyongyang has offered to freeze its plutonium-based nuclear programme, it has yet to admit to having a uranium enrichment programme, as the United States alleges.

It was these claims that triggered the nuclear crisis 16 months ago.

US envoy James Kelly is already in Beijing, as are the delegates from Japan and Russia. South Korea's delegation arrives later Tuesday.

Earlier China, a longtime mediator on the North Korean nuclear crisis, held separate bilateral meetings with the United States and North Korea yesterday, a day before six-party talks to resolve the standoff get underway.

Last morning, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the head of the Chinese delegation, met with US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly to coordinate efforts for the talks opening Wednesday, the Xinhua news agency said.

Soon after, China held a bilateral meeting with the North Korean delegation, headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan, Xinhua said.

The agency said China will hold similar consultations with Japan and South Korea.

Japanese reports said North Korea hopes to have a bilateral meeting with the United States, although the American embassy in Beijing was not able to confirm this.

It was also unclear whether North Korea will agree to hold talks with Japan, which is keen to resolve the issue of Japanese abducted by the North.

"We still cannot confirm any schedule between North Korea and the US bilateral talks," an official at the North Korean embassy in Beijing told AFP.

The Russian delegation, headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losiukov, held a meeting with the Japanese delegation headed by chief negotiator Mitoji Yabunaka, Xinhua said.

Russia and the United States are also scheduled to hold a consultation Tuesday, Xinhua cited the Russian embassy as saying.