Japan, US, South Korea eye North Korea to follow Iran's lead in nuclear deal

A special US envoy for the long-stalled six-party talks on North Korea's denuclearization said Friday he and his Japanese and South Korean counterparts agreed to find a way to resolve the issue by drawing on the experience of a recent landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, Kyodo news agency reported.

Sydney Seiler told reporters after their meeting that they discussed the importance of "bringing North Korea back to authentic and credible negotiations" and "the need for DPRK to make the same decision that the leadership in Tehran did."

DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The six-party talks involving the two Koreas, Japan, China, South Korea and Russia are aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions, but the talks have been deadlocked since late 2008.