 Nuclear negotiators from Japan, the United States and South Korea have called on for the disarmament of North Korea to move ahead, but Tokyo aired concerns over US plans to take Pyongyang off its terrorism blacklist.
Top US negotiator Christopher Hill said in Tokyo that he was looking forward to getting together with the other parties involved in the talks to see if they could move the process forward.
"It's a difficult task but I think it will be made easier when the US and Japan can work closely together and that's what we're doing today."
The six-party talks on the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula have been stalled for months since Washington said Pyongyang missed a December-deadline to provide a full account of its nuclear programs.
Thursday's meeting came after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she expected North Korea to soon provide a delayed account of its nuclear weapons activities.
In return, Washington may take the North off of its list of extremist nations.
But Japan, which has taken the hardest line in the six-nation talks, adamantly opposed removing North Korea from the blacklist due to a row over kidnappings of Japanese civilians in the 1970s and 1980s.
Kim Sook, the South Korean envoy, expressed hopes that Japan and North Korea would settle soon their issues and proceed to the next phase of the negotiations.
Hill is scheduled to leave for China on Friday for further talks.
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