Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said Thursday there was still life in six-party disarmament talks aimed at persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. South Korea failed to persuade North Korea on Thursday to commit to return to the international talks that comprise China, Japan, Russia, the United States and the two Koreas. North Korea has stayed away from the disarmament talks in the past year, but hopes were raised last week when leader Kim Jong Il met a visiting South Korean minister and indicated his country could return to the negotiating table as early as next month, AP reported. Still, despite efforts to persuade the North to meet that deadline, a spokesman from the South Korean delegation said no definite answer was given during talks Thursday. --More 2141 Local Time 1841 GMT
