Aso said the talks might resume as early as next week if the issue of North Korean funds frozen in a Macau bank was resolved, Kyodo said.

He made the remark to reporters after meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-Soon in Egypt on the sidelines of a conference on Iraq, Kyodo said in a dispatch from the conference.

Under a February 13 deal, North Korea was given 60 days to shut down its Yongbyon plant and allow international inspectors back into the country in exchange for energy aid.

North Korea has refused to take steps to shut down the reactor because its 25 million dollars in funds remained frozen as a result of US action in the bank.

US envoy Christopher Hill said in Washington Friday he was hopeful the funds would be freed up soon. The process was said to have been held up by "technical issues."

Hill said North Korea could shut down and disable the nuclear plant by the end of this year.

The six-way talks group the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia, and the United States.