WASHINGTON Ñ The United States has completed its policy review toward North Korea and will resume negotiations with the outlaw state, President Bush said in a written statement.

New Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden welcomed the statement which he said signaled a continuation of the Clinton administration's policy and a victory for Secretary of State Colin Powell's more moderate views within the Bush foreign policy team. "It seems to me that .... the Powell school is beginning to prevail on a very important subject,'' Mr Biden said.

U.S. military officials earlier this year labeled North Korea the 'number one proliferator of missiles in the world.' Bush was cool to South Korean President Kim Dae-jung's policy of engagement with his secretive communist neighbour when the two leaders met at the White House in March. North Korea's continuing missile buildup placed Kim in an awkward position prior to his visit to Washington. During his visit, The Washington Times' Bill Gertz reported that U.S. intelligence had detected a N. Korean ship loaded with missile components preparing to leave for the Middle East

U.S. officials said the Bush administration's review would urge tighter safeguards to verify Pyongyang's missile and nonconventional weapons programs as well as a reduction in conventional forces along the border with South Korea.

The president promised that if North Korea ''responds affirmatively, we will expand our efforts to help North Korean people, ease sanctions and take other political steps.''

''We will pursue these discussions in the context of a comprehensive approach to North Korea which will seek to encourage progress toward North-South reconciliation, peace on the Korean peninsula, a constructive relationship with the United States and greater stability in the region,'' the statement said.

The decision was made during a meeting of with senior foreign policy advisers on Tuesday and will be relayed to South Korean Foreign Minister Han Seung-soo by Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday.

A key demand, the officials said, is that Pyongyang continues its moratorium of intermediate- and long-range missile tests. The moratorium was imposed in 1999 and North Korea has threatened to renew missile tests.

"Failure of North Korea to maintain its moratorium on the launch of long-range missiles would block any potential progress," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "

North Korea is regarded as the leading missile exporter to the Middle East. Pyongyang has sold the Scud C and No-Dong missile and components to such clients as Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Libya and Syria.

For its part, North Korea has dismissed the prospect of renewed dialogue with Washington. Pyongyang said it would not agree to any conditions set by the administration.

"If the administration seeks a conditional dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, a dialogue aimed at disarming it, talking about 'verification', 'cut down of conventional forces', 'inspection' and the like, the DPRK has no interest in such a dialogue," the state-owned Rodong Shinmun daily said.

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