Top US envoy Christopher Hill on Thursday denied an alleged signing of memorandum at a meeting between the United States and North Korea in Berlin last month.

"We had good discussions and want to see what we might do in the next six-party talks. We didn't sign anything," said Hill at a hotel in downtown Beijing.

Reports claimed the United States and North Korea inked a memorandum during Berlin talks, agreeing that Pyongyang's first steps toward its denuclearization and US energy support should begin simultaneously.

The fresh phase of six-party talks will resume in the Chinese capital later Thursday, focusing on initial steps to implement a 2005 joint statement.

Under the joint statement reached on Sept. 19, 2005, North Korea agreed to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for economic aid and security guarantees.

The top US nuclear negotiator visited the Republic of Korea and Japan before his arrival in China, emphasizing "concrete and effective steps toward the full implementation of the Sept. 19 Joint Statement and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

"At this point I don't want to tell that what aspects of the agreement we try to get implemented except to say we do get set of actions," Hill said. "If we do, it would be widely seen as a solid positive step towards implementation of the agreement."

Hill also downplayed a quick settlement of the Korean nuclear issue, just saying all parties involved try to deal causes of the problems in a "broad and comprehensive way".
 
"There is no success only when we implement the full Sept. 19 joint statement," Hill said.

(Xinhua News Agency February 8, 2007)