Beijing: The final session of the six-nation talks on North Korea's weapons programme wound up in less than two hours of resuming on the third day amid reports that Pyongyang threatened to formally declare itself a nuclear power.

While details of the three-day closed-door meetings were not yet known, China's official Xinhua news agency said the six parties- the United States, North Korea, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea "explained their principled stands and proposals on resolving the Korean nuclear issue.

"They also "frankly" exchanged views," the brief report said.

Earlier, diplomatic sources said that China is now working with all other sides to bring out a joint statement, which would basically say that the meeting was useful and that they would meet again.

The Chinese foreign ministry has scheduled a briefing later in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, reports from Washington said that North Korea threatened at the talks on the second day of the meeting in Beijing to formally declare itself a nuclear power and conduct a nuclear test.

North Korea's envoy to the talks, Kim Yong-IL, made the declaration in front of the US delegation and envoys from Russia, China, South Korea and Japan on talks on the 10 month-old nuclear crisis, US officials were quoted as saying.

North Korea also reportedly threatened to prove it had the means to deliver nuclear weapons with a missile test.

PTI