But there had been little progress in high-level negotiations in Beijing last week over the abduction issue between Japan and North Korea.
First gesture
"If there is no progress in the Japanese-North Korean talks, it is not likely there will be any significant progress in the six-party talks, because the US needs the freedom to remove North Korea from the terrorism list as a first gesture in order to get a good North Korean gesture," Harrison said.
But DeTrani indicated some US flexibility in resolving the nuclear crisis, which flared up in October 2002 after Washington accused North Korea of running a secret uranium-enrichment program.
"No one is asking the Koreans to unilaterally dismantle all their programs before anything else happens.
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