Arms negotiators today failed to set a firm deadline for North Korea to disable its nuclear facilities following the shutdown of its reactor, only agreeing to more consultations on Pyongyang’s disarmament.

North Korea today agreed to shut down its main nuclear reactor within 60 days and eventually dismantle its atomic weapons programme.

The first talks on North Korea's nuclear programme since the communist nation tested an atomic device ended without an agreement on disarmament or a date for further negotiations.

North Korea today defiantly proclaimed itself a nuclear power and demanded all sanctions against the regime be lifted before it disarms.

US and North Korean envoys today ended talks failing to reach an agreement on when to resume six-nation talks on dismantling Pyongyang’s atomic weapons programme.

North Korea is not planning a second nuclear test and is willing to return to six-party talks under certain conditions but warned that it would take action if it feels pressured, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said today.

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and China’s foreign minister said today their governments had agreed to try to resume stalled talks aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear programme and called on the communist nation to show restraint.

China’s president Hu Jintao appears to have sent a special envoy to North Korea, a former South Korean politician said today, amid speculation that the North might conduct another nuclear test.

Japan today pushed ahead with its proposal for UN sanctions against North Korea for its missile tests, and China dispatched diplomats to Pyongyang amid a campaign to lure the reclusive regime back to nuclear disarmament talks.

The chief US negotiator on North Korea met top Chinese officials today to discuss Pyongyang’s missile tests, amid stepped up efforts by the world powers to curb North’s provocative behaviour.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told China’s president he is committed to a peaceful resolution of the stand-off over the North’s nuclear ambitions as he wrapped up a week-long, secrecy-shrouded trip to his last major ally.

North Korea would consider dismantling its nuclear weapons programme if the communist country’s relations with the US, Japan and South Korea improved, China’s envoy to Seoul said today.

Negotiators at talks aimed at persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions set to work today on the contentious details of how the North will disarm and what it will get in exchange.

North Korea pledged to drop its nuclear weapons development and rejoin international arms treaties in a unanimous agreement today with other countries at arms talks, in the first-ever joint statement after more than two years of negotiations.

Thailand’s foreign minister says the North Korean government has told him nuclear talks planned for this week must be postponed to mid-to late September, it was reported today.

China said diplomatic relations with Japan were at a three-decade low and that Tokyo – by refusing to face up to its militaristic past – was to blame.

Top US and Chinese negotiators met today for discussions on luring North Korea back to nuclear disarmament talks, after Washington dismissed the North’s latest threat to resume long-range missile testing as counter-productive.

A senior Chinese official planned to begin three days of talks in South Korea today as part of efforts to restart stalled six-party negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear weapons programmes.