Hectic diplomatic efforts have been underway to cement a meeting between foreign ministers of the six nations including North Korea on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Kuala Lumpur.

The United States, China, Japan and South Korea have agreed that all six nations should meet to push for an early resumption of the talks stalled since November over Pyongyang's objections to US financial sanctions against it.

"Diplomatic efforts are being made to hold foreign ministers' talks of the six countries on the sidelines of the ARF," said Chun Young-Woo, South Korea's top envoy to the talks which also includes Russia.

However South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon said that although invited there was no guarantee his North Korean counterpart Paek Nam-Sun would show up.

North Korea was unanimously condemned this month by the UN Security Council for test-firing seven missiles which also sparked anger and alarm throughout the region. In reply, Pyongyang rejected the UN resolution and threatened to bolster its defences.

Malaysia said it was up to North Korea's closest ally and major food donor China to encourage Pyongyang's return to the talks that began in August 2003 in an effort to rein in its nuclear program.

"We would like to hope that there can be some window for some breakthrough but this depends very much on how the Chinese are able to influence, and the Russians," said Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar.

The ARF is a 12-year-old annual forum on security in the Asia-Pacific region that was initiated by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) whose members are also meeting in the Malaysian capital.

US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said North Korea would dominate the ARF and ASEAN meetings which will also provide chances for bilateral and multilateral talks.

"There are going to be opportunities at the ASEAN as well as ARF meetings for bilateral contacts and groups to get together to talk about the North Korea issue," McCormack said.

"But you can be certain that North Korea's going to be a topic of heavy discussion at those meetings," he said.

The United States has said it will seek talks with the other four nations even if North Korea failed to show, through its top envoy on the issue Christopher Hill and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Rice is attending the ARF for the first time after skipping the meeting last year, a decision which caused consternation in the region.

However, China, the host of the talks, has indicated it opposed holding discussions without Pyongyang.

Talking to his South Korean counterpart Roh Moo-Hyun by phone on Friday, Chinese President Hu Jintao urged "calm and restraint" as regional tensions remained high over the launch of the missiles that splashed down in the Sea of Japan (East Sea).

And Roh called on "all parties concerned to make bold decisions to avoid the situation getting worse and to have the six-party talks resumed at an early date," his spokesman said.

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