Tokyo, Sept 12: North Korea has agreed in principle to hold a second round of six-nation talks in Beijing in early November over its nuclear weapons programme, a report said today. North Korea sent this message to Russia and other nations involved in the first round of talks, which ended late last month, Kyodo news reported, citing unnamed diplomatic sources in Moscow.


Talks between North Korea, South Korea, the United States, Japan, China and Russia ended in Beijing in late August with an undertaking to meet again, but with no date set, over the crisis that erupted last October.

Toshimitsu Motegi, senior vice minister for foreign affairs, told a Tokyo lecture meeting that Japan hoped to resume the talks "as early as in late October" while saying no date had been set yet.

Motegi also indicated it could take years to resolve the North Korean crisis.

"If we take a wider view, taking time such as two years or three years would not cause great disadvantage to our side," he said.

North Korea was unlikely to start nuclear tests or aggressively push ahead with nuclear development in a visible way in the immediate future while the seclusive Stalinist nation faces energy and food shortages, he said.
"It is their side who would suffer" if the negotiation drags on, he said.

Kyodo said that Russia had actively lobbied North Korea to take a moderate stance following the talks and to create a favorable environment for a second round.
Bureau Report