By Reuben Staines
Staff Reporter

Negotiations to resolve the standoff over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs are faltering amid growing signs of frustration from a U.S. administration that is running out of ideas for dealing with Pyongyang.

A government official in Seoul said Wednesday working-level meetings to prepare for the next round of six-party nuclear talks in Beijing will likely be delayed.

``It seems like it will be difficult to hold the meeting this month as scheduled,’’ the official said on condition of anonymity.

The preparatory meeting was scheduled for the third week of this month, with the six participants _ the United States, the two Koreas, China, Japan and Russia _ promising to reconvene high-level talks before the end of September.

Another official said it appeared North Korea is wavering over how to approach negotiations.

Developments over the past month have put paid to hopes that Washington and Pyongyang were getting serious about striking a deal, and the nuclear stalemate is set to drag on well into its third year, according to U.S. experts.

``No one wants to scrap the negotiation process. They just want to keep it in slow-motion until after the U.S. election in November,’’ explained Daniel Pinkston, a nuclear nonproliferation specialist at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

Pinkston, who is currently a visiting professor at Korea University, said Washington is frustrated by the failure of its attempts to pressure Pyongyang into dismantling its nuclear facilities but has few other options.

``It’s pretty clear that the administration’s approach for about the past two years has not been successful,’’ he said.

Recent claims by a U.S. official that Iran is helping to test North Korean missiles that are capable of striking the U.S., along with a new intelligence report indicating significant progress in the North’s nuclear programs, have intensified calls for Washington to pay urgent attention to the issue.

Responding to such criticisms, U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice over the weekend said the administration is considering all means available to halt the buildup of a nuclear arsenal in the North.

The comment came after Pyongyang had rebuffed a U.S. offer tabled at the third round of six-party talks in June that gave it three months to freeze its nuclear facilities in exchange for economic and diplomatic rewards and a security guarantee.

Peter Hayes, executive director of public policy think tank the Nautilus Institute, said the recent U.S. reports on North Korea appeared to be an attempt by hardliners in Washington to disrupt the six-party talks.

``Those who leaked the reports likely want the negotiations to hit an unmovable obstacle,’’ he said. Hayes, however, agreed that this is unlikely to succeed as President George W. Bush’s top priority will be stability with the election approaching.

``The Bush administration is primarily playing for time at this point, which is ironic as time is clearly on North Korea’s side for the short-medium term,’’ he said.

Hayes believed North Korea too is looking ahead to the outcome of the U.S. election, with Democratic candidate John Kerry promising he would hold bilateral talks with Pyongyang if elected.

North Korea will seek to maximize pressure on Bush in the lead up to the polls to reduce his chances of reelection, he said.

rjs@koreatimes.co.kr