US envoy Christopher Hill, speaking after a bilateral meeting with his North Korean counterpart Kim Gye-gwan, said little progress was made.

"It was a rather lengthy meeting but I must say it was a meeting in which we did not make a lot of progress," Hill said. "The DPRK (North Korea) is quite insistent that they want to include in the agreement a light water reactor ..."

"It's not the only problem, but certainly it is a major problem."

The six countries - the two Koreas, Japan, China, Russia and the United States - reconvened for their first full day Wednesday since their fourth round of talks adjourned on August 7.

The bargaining is aimed at persuading the Stalinist North, which expelled international monitors and now says it has nuclear weapons, to give up the bomb in exchange for security guarantees as well as energy and economic aid.

Negotiations have been bogged down over North Korea's demand for peaceful nuclear energy, a demand resisted by Washington which has said it cannot be trusted not to cheat.

North Korea is now insisting that the international community complete construction of two light-water reactors to generate power first agreed in

"It's very clear they wanted to spend today making this a light water reactor day. I hope this does not become a light water reactor week..." Hill said.

"I have made it very clear and I think the other delegations have made it clear that nobody is prepared to fund the light water reactors and that they should rather focus on the elements that are on the table..."

It would take up to a decade to build a light-water reactor and would cost two to three billion dollars, Hill said. The North should instead accept a South Korean offer to run power cables across the border and receive electricity that way, he said.

Under a now defunct 1994 agreement, two light-water reactors were to have been built by a US-led consortium to replace North Korea's existing graphite-moderated reactors, which can produce weapons-grade plutonium.

But construction was suspended after the United States in 2002 accused the North of developing a secret uranium-enrichment program.

North Korea's demand to use nuclear power for civilian purposes was a focus of the talks Wednesday, said South Korea's chief delegate Song Min-Soon.

"Now we are talking about the concept of the right to peaceful use of nuclear energy. We are not at the stage to discuss in details about how this concept will develop at a later stage," said Song.

"But North Korea, when they complete dismantlement of their nuclear weapons and nuclear programs, they can have their right to peaceful use of nuclear energy."

South Korea, along with China and Russia, has previously voiced support for North Korea's proposal. Japan and the US have been opposed.

At the White House, President George W. Bush indicated that it was every nation's right to have such programs.

"It's a right of a government to want to have a civilian nuclear program, but there ought to be guidelines in which they be allowed to have that civilian nuclear program," Bush, referring to Iran, said at a press conference.

His aides later played down the significance of the remark, with a senior administration official replying: "No, he was not," when asked if it was meant as a signal to North Korea.

The talks are open-ended although China said it hopes they are over by Sunday - the mid-Autumn festival when Chinese and Koreans enjoy family reunions.

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