Japan, the United States and South Korea agreed Thursday on the need to create a blueprint to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue.
The U.S.-proposed plan would be presented to Pyongyang if the country agrees to participate in five-way talks.
The three countries could not agree, however, on whether a project to build light-water nuclear reactors under the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) should be suspended.
Senior officials from the three countries ended two days of talks, having discussed "concrete ideas" to resolve the standoff on the peninsula if the five-way talks take place, a Japanese official told reporters.