Asian Officials Hope for Resumption of N. Korea Nuclear Talks

Officials in Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing are again generally speaking with one voice on North Korea, hoping Saturday's U.N. resolution condemning the North's July 5 missile tests will prompt Pyongyang to return to multi-national talks about its nuclear programs. But Pyongyang shows no sign of budging.

North Korea remained defiant the day after the U.N. resolution. The North Korean Foreign Ministry "vehemently" denounced and refuted the resolution Sunday, saying it had been prompted by the "hostile" U.S. attitude toward the North. It called the U.N. Security Council "irresponsible" for approving the resolution, and said it would continue to increase what it called its "war deterrent for self-defense." ...