Washington - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday the six-nation talks for ending North Korea's nuclear activities are "essential" to the diplomatic process.

"With respect to North Korea, I think the six-party talks are essential," Clinton told reporters.

The State Department has begun a review of the diplomatic approach to North Korea under the Bush administration, which established the six-nation negotiations as the centrepiece of dealing with Pyongyang.

North Korea has agreed to abandon its nuclear weapons programmes. But negotiations stalled towards the end of the Bush administration over setting up a process to verify North Korea's disclosures of the extent of its nuclear work last summer. dpa