US Secretary of State Colin Powell wrapped up a three-nation tour of Asia after winning pledges from Japan, China and South Korea to press North Korea to resume stalled talks on its nuclear weapons programs. But Powell also heard calls for Washington to adopt less of a hard-line stance toward Pyongyang and show more flexibility in what it is willing to offer the Stalinist state in return for the dismantlement of nuclear arms. He declined to offer a timeline for when North Korea might return to the table but earlier a South Korean spokesman quoted Powell as telling Unification Minister Chung Dong-Young he expected Pyongyang to drop its boycott of the talks after next week's US presidential elections.

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