US recognises N Korea as a 'sovereign nation'

The United States said it recognised North Korea as a "sovereign nation" and had no intention to attack, while the Stalinist regime announced it wanted to work towards a nuclear-free peninsula.

The US acknowledgement, just months after Washington described the secretive North as an "outpost of tyranny", will go some way to placating the North, which has long urged the United States to recognise it as a legitimate government.

But the US made no mention about normalising ties, another key demand of North Korea before it agrees to work on ways to dismantle its atomic weapons.

The United States and North Korea held a "long" bilateral meeting Tuesday following a rare "businesslike" contact the previous day, US and South Korean official said.

"The United States and North Korea held a bilateral meeting this afternoon," said a US embassy official.

A South Korean official said the meeting started at 2:00 pm (0600 GMT) and "lasted long hours". It was now over, he said.

For its part, the Stalinist state said it was ready to work with other countries to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons as the fourth round of multinational talks got off to an encouraging start.

"We view the DPRK's sovereignty as a matter of fact. ... And we remain prepared to speak with the DPRK bilaterally in the context of these talks," chief US envoy Christopher Hill said in opening remarks.

The Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea is North Korea's official name.

Hill repeated that the United States has no intention of attacking North Korea, meeting a demand for assurances of non-aggression, while offering to address concerns about aid and energy.