Efforts to resume the disarmament talks, which broke off a year ago when Pyonygang walked out in protest at US financial sanctions, were given renewed urgency when the North tested an atomic device for the first time October 9.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency earlier said China, which had proposed December 16 as a preferred date, was readjusting the schedule for the talks to reopen either on December 18 or 19.

"The delay in China's announcement (on the date) is because consultations with North Korea have not been smooth," an unnamed source told Yonhap.

"But the general atmosphere is that six-way talks should resume despite the rescheduling of talks by a day or two."

The six-way nuclear disarmament negotiations groups China, North and South Korea, Japan, the United States and Russia.

An unidentified senior US State Department official said Friday that talks could restart in the next 10 days, but stressed this was only a possibility.

US negotiator Christopher Hill said during a visit to Beijing last month that he hoped the talks would restart in December.

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Japan objects new nuke talks without NKorea compromise
Tokyo (AFP) Dec 10 - A key policymaker in Japan's ruling party said Sunday that Tokyo would object to an easy resumption of talks on North Korea's nuclear program, warning compromise from Pyongyang was a prerequisite for dialogue.

"The six-party talks should not resume without careful consideration," Syoichi Nakagawa, chairman of policy research council of the Liberal Democratic Party, told a television news program.

"It's OK if (North Korea) brings something about progress or contribution to peace. But otherwise, it's no good," Nakagawa said. "We don't think that resuming talks itself is meaningful."

A senior US State Department official, who wished to remain anonymous, said on Friday talks could restart in the next 10 days, but stressed this was only a possibility.

China said Saturday it was still continuing its efforts to reopen the six-way talks, which groups China with North and South Korea, Japan, the United States and Russia.

US negotiator Christopher Hill said on a visit to Beijing last month he hoped the talks would restart in December.

In the television program, Nakagawa proposed talks without North Korea if Pyongyang continues refusing to compromise for resumption of the multilateral dialogue.

"It depends on conditions, but we can first hold five-way talks or a meeting of Japan, China and the United States, which may be necessary as a means of pressure," Nakagawa said.

"It is North Korea who will be in trouble when North Korea dawdles," he added.

North Korea drew international condemnation and UN sanctions after announcing that it conducted its first-ever atomic bomb test on October 9. On October 31 it agreed in principle to resume the six-party talks but no date has been agreed.

Nakagawa also hinted that Japan would take up a row over North Korea's abductions of its citizens at the planned six-party talks.

"The US main interest seems nuclear non-proliferation while China's main goal is abolition of nuclear weapons. In Japan's case, we have two matters -- nuclear abolition and abduction," he said.

"It is important to discuss the abduction issue at the six-way talks."

North Korea has admitted kidnapping Japanese civilians in the 1970s and 1980s to train its spies and handed over five victims and their families to Japan in 2002.

Japan believes more kidnap victims are alive and kept under wraps because they know secrets. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, known for his tough stance to North Korea, has sought to increase pressure on Pyongyang to release all of them.

Japan has repeatedly raised the emotionally charged row in six-way talks, angering North Korea and irritating China and South Korea.

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North Korea lashes out at US-SKorean contingency plan
Seoul (AFP) Dec 10 - North Korea on Sunday denounced a US-South Korean contingency plan for armed intervention in the event of instability in the communist country as provoking war.

Minju Josun, Pyongyang's state-run newspaper, said North Korea -- a self-declared nuclear power -- would use all its deterrent to deal "merciless blows" to invaders in case of war.

The United States and South Korea have been preparing a joint military scheme, CONPLAN 5029, for a sudden collapse of North Korea, officials here say.

The scheme, which both sides agree to complete, showed their intent on toppling the North Korean communist regime despite denials of any intention to go to war, Minju Josun said.

In a separate commentary on the day, Rodong Sinmun, the North's ruling communist party newspaper, also called the plan "an intolerable provocation" and vowed to show "no mercy" against any aggression.

The two Koreas fought a bloody 1950-1953 war. Some 29,500 US troops are stationed in South Korea to help 650,000 South Korean forces face up to North Korea's 1.2 million-strong army.

Under a mutual defense treaty, the South Korean military comes under US command in times of war, however, Seoul is seeking to regain wartime control over its troops.

Fresh tensions flared on the peninsula on October 9 when North Korea defiantly tested its first nuclear device.

The confidential CONPLAN 5029 allegedly focuses on guidelines for US and South Korean military authorities to cope with such possible emergencies as a revolt, coup or regime change in North Korea.

"This is an intolerable provocation openly revealing the ambition to invade the DPRK (North Korea)," Rodong Sinmun said in a commentary Sunday.

"The DPRK will show no mercy to any aggressors seeking to debase its dignity and system and invade it."

"If they ignite a war... the DPRK will mobilize all war deterrent forces they have built up under the banner of Songun (army-first) to deal merciless blows at the aggressors," Minju Josun said.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Sunday Seoul and Washington would begin full-scale work next week to complete the joint military plan.

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