North Korea′s roving ambassador Ri Hong Sik made the comments about the international negotiations to end North Korea′s nuclear weapons programme at an impromptu press conference at Asia′s main security meeting, the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum, on the Thai island of Phuket.

   ′There will be no more six-party talks until the US drops its hostile attitude,′ Ri said.

   US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said it was unfortunate that North Korea had shown no willingness to pursue denuclearization at the forum.

   North Korea′s nuclear weapons programme and Myanmar′s ongoing political instability were the highlights of the talks on Phuket although Myanmar was clearly sidelined by Pyongyang′s remarks.

   Clinton even offered some rare words of praise to the military regime in Myanmar, also known as Burma, for its professed willingness to enforce a UN Security Council resolution that calls for an arms embargo with North Korea and the right to inspect any suspicious cargo from the country.

   ′We were grateful for Burma′s statement announcing its intention to adhere to the UN resolution,′ Clinton said.

   Earlier this week, the secretary of state expressed fears of North Korean-Myanmar military cooperation, perhaps in nuclear weapons development.

   The ASEAN Regional Forum has drawn 26 foreign ministers to Phuket, 600 kilometres south of Bangkok.

   Clinton met Wednesday there with the foreign ministers from the other countries involved in the six-nation talks aimed at ending North Korea′s nuclear weapons programme. The only country not to participate was North Korea itself, which is a member of the forum but refused to send its foreign minister to the annual meeting.

   ′I think we′ve laid the groundwork for future cooperation on urgent issues from North Korea and Burma to the threat of terrorism and scourge of human trafficking,′ Clinton said before entering the closed-door forum.

   The forum was expected to issue a strong statement of support for the recent UN Security Council resolution on North Korea, whose nuclear programme is deemed one of the main threats to security in Asia.

   The United States and its allies have offered economic incentives to Pyongyang in return for ending its nuclear ambitions.

   ′If they will agree to irreversible denuclearization, then the US as well as our partners will move forward on a programme of incentives and opportunities, including normalizing relations, that will give the people of North Korea a better future,′ Clinton said.

   The forum consists of ASEAN′s 10 members as well as Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, North and South Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua Guinea, Russia, Sri Lanka, East Timor and the United States.

   ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.