North Korea (DPRK)

North Korea's neighbors and the US are coordinating closely to draw the isolated state back to nuclear disarmament talks and reviewing possible next steps, US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell stold reporters Oct. 14. Many analysts have been skeptical of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il's recent avowal that he could return to six-party talks aimed at dismantling his country's nuclear weapons program. Those talks bring together North and South Korea, China, the US, Japan and Russia."There is a virtually unprecedented acceptance of basic goals and ambitions associated with the six-party talks and negotiations with North Korea," Campbell said. (Reuters)