US "ready to go" on North Korea talks, despite possible delay

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States is "ready to go" for six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear crisis, despite signs that a hoped-for December meeting may be pushed back to early next year, a senior US official said.

A day after the first hint of a hitch in the complicated diplomatic drive led by China to convene new talks, US officials insisted Pyongyang had yet to agree on a date to meet.

Earlier, Japan's Kyodo news service quoted sources as saying Japan, South Korea and the United States could be responsible for a delay after rejecting a Chinese proposal for a joint statement on the talks.

The draft statement would allow a security guarantee for North Korea in exchange for Pyongyang declaring it will abandon its nuclear development program before actual implementation is confirmed, Kyodo reported the sources as saying.

The three found the Chinese-sponsored draft too ...