BEIJING - The United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) are all waiting to see what step the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) takes next on its nuclear issue, analysts said on Tuesday following a trilateral dialogue between the US and its two Asian allies.

Senior officials of the three countries discussed the Korean Peninsula, Myanmar and other regional and global issues of common concern at the one-day meeting in Washington.

It was the first high-level discussion among the three sides after the death of DPRK leader Kim Jong-il on Dec 17.

The three countries reaffirmed their commitment to the Sept 19, 2005, Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks, including the goal of "the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner", according to a statement issued by the US State Department after the talks.

"We also agreed that a path is open to (the DPRK) toward the resumption of talks and improved relations with the United States, Japan and Republic of Korea through dialogue," it said.

The 2005 agreement among the six parties including China, Russia, the US, Japan, the ROK and the DPRK, called on Pyongyang to dismantle its nuclear weapons in return for security guarantees from the US.

Some media speculated that the meeting in Washington was aimed at getting China to pressure the DPRK to recommit to the agreement and resume nuclear talks.

However, Liu Jiangyong, vice-dean of the Institute of Modern International Relations at Tsinghua University, said he thought the US, Japan and the ROK are still targeting the DPRK.

"The current developments within the region are different from 2010 when the US and its allies held joint drills. And 2012 is the year of elections. What they desire most is stability on the Korean Peninsula to provide more time to discuss how to deal with the DPRK's new leadership. Therefore, negotiations among the three countries are to be continued," Liu said.

Shi Yinhong, a researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, said the high-level meeting of the three countries was to draw up "their contingency plan".

"Since December, the whole international community has been closely watching Pyongyang for any changes. The US and its allies are no exception, waiting for more clues to judge what will be the next in Pyongyang under its new leader Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il's youngest son. And they need to discuss each other's concerns before anything could go wrong," Shi told China Daily.

China Daily