US Asia envoy James Kelly had a first round of low-key nuclear talks in Beijing with "axis of evil" foe North Korea .The negotiations, which also involved China as an active third party, marked the first direct dialogue since the crisis over North Korea's nuclear program erupted in October. Kelly declined comment as he returned to his hotel in the afternoon after hours of talks inside the Diaoyutai State Guest House, a vast compound in western Beijing guarded by paramilitary police.

Just the mere fact that negotiations were actually happening after six months of steadily deteriorating relations between Washington and Pyongyang was a good sign, analysts said.

"If they can agree that there will be another meeting, that in itself will be sufficient," said Brian Bridges, a Korea expert at Hong Kong's Lingnan University.

"If it can make both sides step back from the brink, that will be important," he said of the talks, scheduled to end Friday.

The North Korean negotiators were led by Li Gun, the foreign ministry's deputy director for US affairs and a former senior member of his country's delegation to the United Nations .

China was represented by Fu Ying, director of the foreign ministry's department of Asian affairs.

Kelly's presence at the talks was not without irony, as his visit to Pyongyang in October precipitated the drama by accusing the Stalinist state of harboring a secret nuclear program.

North Korea reacted furiously, threw out international nuclear arms inspectors, pulled out of a key nuclear pact and test-launched land-to-sea missiles, as it carefully raised the stakes in the confrontation.

But given the speedy US victory in Iraq , and the boost it has given to hawks in Washington, North Korea may be reconsidering its position, according to analysts.

This could have helped persuade North Korea to participate in the Beijing talks, said Jing-dong Yuan, a researcher at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

"If North Korea's bottom line was to gain concessions from the United States by playing the nuclear card, then this may be the time to show some flexibility rather than move to a point of no return," he said.

Prior to Wednesday's talks, Chinese leaders held several meetings with both North Korean and US officials.

Vice Marshal Jo Myong Rok, the visiting head of the North Korean army's political bureau, met Tuesday with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Shortly after his arrival on the same day, Kelly held talks with China's Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi, having a "productive meeting to discuss the upcoming talks," a US embassy official said.

China, which has repeatedly said it wishes to see a peaceful resolution to the North Korean nuclear issue, appeared eager not to raise hopes too high ahead of the talks.

"We hope the talks will help the parties to understand each other's positions more clearly and ease the current tension," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Tuesday.

North Korea originally insisted on bilateral talks with the United States, cutting out South Korea from the procedures, while the US government called for a multilateral format.

The trilateral talks seem to have provided an acceptable compromise.

However, the talks were kicking off as the form of the negotiations still appeared to be a potentially divisive issue.

The United States said Tuesday the Beijing talks would be genuinely multilateral, and that China was not merely providing cover for one-on-one talks with Pyongyang.

PHOTO CAPTION

US envoy James Kelly to Asia leaves his hotel for a waiting limousine in Beijing, heading for crisis talks with North Korean and Chinese officials. The assistant secretary of state for Asia and Pacific affairs, Kelly arrived with a high-powered delegation of senior Washington officials for talks.(AFP/Frederic J. Brown)