US under pressure to break Korean nuclear stalemate

At the last round of the talks, North Korea pledged to abandon its nuclear weapons arsenal in return for wide-ranging benefits, in the first-ever accord signed by the United States, China, the two Koreas, Russia and Japan since six-way negotiations began in August 2003.

But a key question has cropped up ahead of the fifth round of talks in Beijing, set to begin Wednesday: Who should make the first move under the so-called "commitment for commitment, action for action" principle they agreed upon?

"I think the next round is unlikely to yield significant progress, because the two sides are very far apart on what each of them should do at the beginning," said Selig Harrison, director of the Asia program at the Washington-based Centre for International Policy.

The United States wants North Korea to set the ball rolling by launching the process of dismantling its nuclear weapons program.

North Korea, on the other hand, expects substantial benefits upfront from the United States before beginning any effort to surrender what is literally its only negotiating weapon.

Harrison believes Pyongyang wants the United States to "take some steps" leading to normalized relations, such as North Korea's removal from the US list of states accused of sponsoring terrorism.

The hardline communist state does not currently have diplomatic relations with the United States.

Removal from the terrorism list is crucial for the impoverished North Korea to join the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank and seek developmental aid.