US Secretary of State Colin Powell and North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun discussed Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions today.
In the highest-level bilateral meeting since the crisis began almost two years ago. the two ministers held a discussion for 20 minutes on the sidelines of the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) Regional Forum security talks in Jakarta.
"The secretary said there was an opportunity for concrete progress," State Department spokesman Mr Richard Boucher said, reflecting signs of new-found flexibility by the United States to end an impasse that has cast a shadow over the security of north Asia.
North Korea stuck to its long-held position that it wants guarantees from the United States that it will not attack and will reward the impoverished communist state for freezing its programs, a statement issued after the meeting showed.
The United States wants North Korea to dismantle in a verifiable way its nuclear programs, including a uranium enrichment scheme that Pyongyang denies it has.
"The secretary emphasised the administration's proposals to move forward on dismantlement of North Korean nuclear programs," Mr Boucher said of today's discussions.
"They discussed proposals each side had put forward at the last round of six-party talks," he told reporters, referring to discussions on the crisis among the United States, North and South Korea, Russia, Japan and hosts China in Beijing last week.
At those talks, the United States offered security guarantees and South Korean aid in return for North Korea agreeing to dismantle its nuclear programmes.