SIX-PARTY TALKS LIKELY TO RESUME IN LATE MAY DESPITE OBSTACLES.

SEOUL, May 1 Asia Pulse - Despite allegations that North Korea proliferated nuclear technology to Syria, multilateral efforts to end the North's nuclear weapons program are likely to proceed, with the six-party talks possibly resuming in late May.

The upbeat mood came as the key members of the talks recently reaffirmed their commitment to negotiations for the North's denuclearization. In Washington on April 28, the top South Korean and U.S. nuclear envoys pledged to continue the stalled talks despite concerns about Pyongyang's proliferation activities.

Around the same time in Beijing, the foreign ministers of North Korea and China said during their talks that it is "in everyone's interest" to implement the next phase of the agreement for the North's denuclearization.

The nuclear talks gained momentum in early April after chief negotiators of the United States and North Korea met in Singapore and narrowed differences over Pyongyang's declaration of its nuclear programs. Their provisional deal was followed by a visit to Pyongyang by U.S. officials from April 22-24 to discuss the declaration.

After the U.S. team's visit, North Korea said on April 24 its latest nuclear talks with the United States in Pyongyang produced progress, hinting that it will provide the long-awaited declaration in the near future. The North's positive tone came hours after the delegation of diplomats and nuclear experts led by Sung Kim, head of the State Department's Office of Korea Affairs, ended its three-day trip.

North Korea missed a Dec. 31 deadline to fully account for its nuclear activities under an aid-for-denuclearization deal, stalling the negotiations. The North's Soviet-era plutonium-producing facilities at Yongbyon, located north of the country's capital, are still being disabled.

The outcome of the U.S. group's visit was seen by many as a bellwether for the resumption of the six-way talks. "Technical matters for winding up the implementation of the October 3 agreement, including the contents of the nuclear declaration, were discussed there," an unidentified North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman told the country's official news agency after the visit.