The United States, Japan and South Korea agree North Korea must repair ties with the South before multilateral nuclear disarmament talks resume, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday.

"This trilateral meeting reaffirmed the steps that North Korea must take in order for a resumption of six-party talks to produce results," Clinton said after a meeting with her counterparts from Japan and South Korea.

"North Korea must improve relations with the Republic of (South) Korea and cease its provocative behavior," she said.

"North Korea must also comply with its international obligations and take concrete steps to implement its denuclearization commitments under the September 2005 joint statement," the chief US diplomat added.

earlier related report
US consults allies, urges China to rein in N.Korea
Washington (AFP) Dec 6, 2010 - The United States held three-way talks on Monday with South Korea and Japan about how to deal with nuclear-armed North Korea, as President Barack Obama urged China to rein in its ally in Pyongyang.

Clinton opened talks here with her counterparts Kim Sung-Hwan of South Korea and Seiji Maehara of Japan by holding a moment of silence for the victims of North Korea's bombardment of a South Korean border island on November 23.

"This meeting takes place at a time of grave concern in northeast Asia amid the provocative attacks from North Korea," Clinton said as she sat at a U-shaped table with the two foreign ministers.

"We are committed to our partners and we are committed to the preservation of peace and stability in northeast Asia and on the Korean peninsula," Clinton said after she had met with each minister separately.

Kim said: "Cooperation among our three countries is very imperative."

In the latest US military show of support for South Korea, the Pentagon announced it was sending its top military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, to visit Seoul on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Officials said Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet South Korean counterparts including new Defense Minister Kim Kwan-Jin, who replaced Kim Tae-Young when the latter resigned after the shelling.

South Korea's military began a major live-fire exercise Monday, following a major show of naval strength last week by Seoul and its close ally Washington, designed to deter Pyongyang from future attacks.

The United States still has 28,000 troops deployed in South Korea, which since the 1950-53 Korean war has been divided from the North by the most heavily fortified frontier in the world.

Meanwhile, US and Japanese forces continued their biggest-ever joint military exercises, which were nonetheless scheduled before the shelling of the island.

Washington's talks with its top Asian allies exposed the diplomatic isolation of China, which has taken a softer approach to dealing with Pyongyang.

But the White House said Obama, in a phone call late Sunday, urged his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao to send "a clear message" to North Korea that its shelling of South Korean territory and other provocations were "unacceptable."

The United States, South Korea and Japan all ignored China's invitation for them and Russia to hold emergency six-party talks in Beijing this month after North Korea shelled Yeonpyeong island, killing two civilians and two marines.

The five countries, plus North Korea, are partners in the long-stalled six-party talks aimed at scrapping Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs.

The US, Japan and South Korea want North Korea to demonstrate a serious commitment to disarmament before resuming these talks.

Both Kim and Maehara said they looked to China's and Russia's cooperation in the future.

In his phone call, the White House said, Obama reiterated his condemnation of both the North Korean shelling and its pursuit of a uranium enrichment program "in defiance of its obligations."

Last month a US scientist revealed he had been shown a new uranium enrichment plant equipped with at least 1,000 centrifuges at North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex outside the capital Pyongyang.

The display sparked fears that North Korea, which has already carried out explosive tests of two plutonium nuclear devices, will have another avenue to build atomic bombs.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry also reported the Obama call, quoting Hu as saying that "under the current situation, it is imperative that the response is cool and rational and that we firmly prevent a deterioration of the situation."

The Washington Post meanwhile reported that the Obama administration, in an apparent toughening of its approach toward China, has privately started accusing Beijing of "enabling" North Korea to start a uranium enrichment program and to launch attacks on South Korea.

Citing an unnamed senior US official, the newspaper said Washington is moving to redefine its relationship with South Korea and Japan, potentially creating an anti-China bloc in northeast Asia.

In The Hague, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced Monday a probe into suspected war crimes committed by North Korea in both the shelling of the South Korean island and the sinking of a warship.

International investigators blamed North Korea for the sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan in March which killed 46 sailors. The North denies responsibility.