Top officials from the US and North Korea are meeting in Singapore in a bid to break deadlock on the stalled nuclear disarmament deal.
US negotiator Christopher Hill warned that time was running out to resolve the stand-off, ahead of his meeting with counterpart Kim Kye-gwan.
The US wants Pyongyang to provide full details of all its nuclear activities.
The two negotiators have already met twice this year in a bid to reach an agreement.
North Korea agreed in February 2007 to give up its nuclear programme in return for aid, in a six-nation deal with the US, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia.
Since then it has closed its Yongbyon reactor, but the deal is stalled over its failure to fully disclose all of its nuclear activities by the end of last year.
'Possible deal'
Speaking before the meeting, Mr Hill said the two sides needed to make progress.
US negotiator Christopher Hill warned that time was running out to resolve the stand-off, ahead of his meeting with counterpart Kim Kye-gwan.
The US wants Pyongyang to provide full details of all its nuclear activities.
The two negotiators have already met twice this year in a bid to reach an agreement.
North Korea agreed in February 2007 to give up its nuclear programme in return for aid, in a six-nation deal with the US, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia.
Since then it has closed its Yongbyon reactor, but the deal is stalled over its failure to fully disclose all of its nuclear activities by the end of last year.
'Possible deal'
Speaking before the meeting, Mr Hill said the two sides needed to make progress.
"I will be discussing the fact that we are kind of running out of time," he said.
He played down talk of a possible breakthrough.
"I don't think we will have any agreement, we are not looking for an agreement, we are looking to have a consultation on some of the issues that have kept us apart," he said.
"They know exactly what the issues are and that we don't want to meet them unless we could achieve something."
The two sides are apart on two key issues - whether or not North Korea has a secret uranium enrichment programme and whether it has transferred nuclear technology overseas.
North Korea denies both allegations and says it has already provided the US with full details of its nuclear activities.
Some media reports, however, have suggested that some kind of compromise deal between the two sides - possibly involving a separate, confidential declaration - could be in the offing.
The meeting comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Pyongyang has been angered by the South Korean president's decision to link bilateral aid to progress on denuclearisation and human rights.
In recent days it has expelled South Korean managers from a joint industrial zone, test-fired missiles off its west coast and upped its rhetoric in state media.
He played down talk of a possible breakthrough.
"I don't think we will have any agreement, we are not looking for an agreement, we are looking to have a consultation on some of the issues that have kept us apart," he said.
"They know exactly what the issues are and that we don't want to meet them unless we could achieve something."
The two sides are apart on two key issues - whether or not North Korea has a secret uranium enrichment programme and whether it has transferred nuclear technology overseas.
North Korea denies both allegations and says it has already provided the US with full details of its nuclear activities.
Some media reports, however, have suggested that some kind of compromise deal between the two sides - possibly involving a separate, confidential declaration - could be in the offing.
The meeting comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Pyongyang has been angered by the South Korean president's decision to link bilateral aid to progress on denuclearisation and human rights.
In recent days it has expelled South Korean managers from a joint industrial zone, test-fired missiles off its west coast and upped its rhetoric in state media.
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