N. Korea is offering to halt N-effort

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea offered Tuesday to refrain from producing nuclear weapons as a "bold concession" to rekindle talks over its arms programs.

The move comes as the United States, China, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas scramble to arrange a new round of negotiations, with South Korea and Russian saying they are unlikely this month.

North Korea has said before it is willing to freeze its "nuclear activities" in exchange for U.S. aid and being taken off Washington's roster of terrorism sponsoring nations.

On Tuesday it specified it was "set to refrain from testing and production of nuclear weapons and stop even operating (its) nuclear power industry for a peaceful purpose."

In a commentary carried by the official KCNA news agency, North Korea called the offer "one more bold concession."

The United States has said it wants North Korea to verifiably begin dismantling its nuclear weapons programs before it delivers any concessions.

In Moscow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov blamed the delay Monday on disagreements over the wording of a final document for the talks. He said efforts to set up more talks were "very difficult" and that a final document could not be forged because of "mistrust and increased demands on each other" by the United States and North Korea, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.

On Tuesday, North Korea said its first-step proposal should be the focus of preparations for new talks.

Chinese and Russian officials met in Moscow on Monday.

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