On the sidelines of his first international summit since winning reelection early this month, Bush pushed those key US partners to send a unified message that North Korea must return to six-party talks stalled by its absence.

"I can report to you today that having visited with the other nations involved in this collaborative effort that the will is strong, that the effort is united, and the message is clear to Mr. Kim Jong-Il: Get rid of your nuclear weapons programs," the US leader said in a speech to business leaders.

Three rounds of multilateral talks have taken place since the stand-off began in October 2002, but North Korea boycotted a fourth round of talks scheduled for Beijing in September.

A senior Bush aide, briefing reporters on condition he not be named, said North Korean officials had let China know in recent weeks that Pyongyang was prepared to return to the talks, but "when, or how, or who, they did not say."

Washington has proposed security assurances, help with energy supplies, assistance with dismantling its programs, if the Stalinist regime will commit to completely, irreversibly and verifiably abandon its nuclear pursuits.

Bush held a series of rapid-fire meetings with leaders of Chinese President Hu Jintao, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The leader of North Korea will hear a common voice," Bush predicted in a joint appearance with Koizumi on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Santiago.

Another senior US official said Bush hoped to secure broad agreement from Washington's partners on the need to pull North Korea back to the negotiating table perhaps as early this year -- but more likely in early 2005.

"Both sides expressed the hope that the issue can be solved peacefully through dialogue," said Hu, who did not specify a timetable for resuming the talks.

"We ... agreed to continue to place importance on the six-party talks process concerning North Korea, and that we would also continue to pursue a diplomatic solution to dismantle all their nuclear programs," said Koizumi.

"All of the president's interlocutors were encouraged to speak to North Korea and encourage North Korea to return to the six party format," said US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

While US officials downplayed talks of tactical differences, Bush was not taking any chances, saying his meetings were about "making sure that our intention remains the same, that we work together to achieve the goal."

Some analysts had viewed North Korea's decision to duck the September talks as an effort to wait out the November US presidential election, which pitted Bush against Democratic Senator John Kerry, who, unlike Bush backed bilateral talks with the Stalinist regime.

"There was a sense from the President's counterparts that the election result means that the North Korean strategy to run out the clock doesn't work anymore and that they had to get serious," a senior Bush aide said.

Despite the show of unity, there have long been differences over what, if any, concessions to make to Pyongyang.

On Friday, Hu and Roh met in Santiago and agreed that "the six-party talks have run into some difficulties and that more sincerity, flexibility and patience was needed," said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Kong Quan.

Although they also agreed to push for renewed six-party talks "at an early date," said Kong, "the extreme mutual mistrust between North Korea and the United States is the biggest barrier to the peaceful resolution of the issue."

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.