She said any ballistic missile launch by the communist state would be in breach of UN resolutions, and announced a new representative to oversee North Korea policy for Washington.

Speaking after talks here with her South Korean counterpart Yu Myung-Hwan, Clinton urged North Korea to live up to previous commitments and dismantle its nuclear weapons programme.

"We maintain our joint resolve to work together and through the six-party talks to bring about complete and verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula," she told a joint press conference in Seoul.

She also announced the appointment of Stephen Bosworth, a career diplomat, as the new US envoy for North Korea, reporting to her and US President Barack Obama.

Clinton, who is on the third stop of a four-nation tour of Asia, said the development of democracy and prosperity in South Korea was "in stark contrast to the tyranny and poverty across the border to the North."

Seoul says that the North is currently preparing to test its longest-range missile, the Taepodong-2, which is theoretically capable of reaching Alaska.

Pyongyang signalled Monday that it would go ahead with the launch despite warnings from the United States, South Korea and Japan, saying it had a right to pursue "peaceful" space research.

Separately, the North's military said Thursday that an armed clash with the South could break out at any time.

Cross-border tensions are high, with North Korea assuming an increasingly belligerent posture towards Seoul's conservative government.

President Lee Myung-Bak has rolled back his predecessors' policy of largely unconditional aid and engagement with the North and has linked major economic aid to progress on denuclearisation.

Clinton reassured Seoul, a key US ally and host to about 28,500 US troops, that "there is no issue on which we are more united than North Korea."

She went on to hail Seoul's "calm resolve and determination in face of the provocative and uphelpful statements and actions by the North."

"North Korea is not going to get a different relationship with the United States while insulting and refusing dialogue with the Republic of Korea," she added, using the official name for South Korea.

Asked about a possible missile launch by Pyongyang, Clinton said that under UN resolution 1718, "North Korea must stop all activities concerning ballistic missile programmes."

Foreign Minister Yu echoed her comments, saying that "if the North fires a missile -- even if it claims it is a satellite -- it would constitute a clear breach of UN resolution 1718."

North Korea conducted its first ever nuclear weapons test in October 2006. It later agreed to disable its atomic programme in return for energy aid and diplomatic concessions.

However six-nation talks, which group the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States, have been stalled for months amid arguments over how to verify the denuclearisation process.

Clinton said the North's behaviour "presents a number of important foreign policy challenges for the US, the region and the world," and that Bosworth was "up to the task."

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