US President Barack Obama has urged China to use its influence to stop North Korea's "bad behaviour" in a nuclear standoff with the West.

North Korea said on Saturday it will hold an annual parliamentary session next month during which Kim Jong-un, is expected to be appointed officially.

Kim Jong-il impersonator fears his career might have run its course after the death of the North Korean leader.

North Korea appears to be making an orderly transition after the death of Kim Jong-il last week, but the risk of collapse is higher than before.

South Korea's government sent condolences on Tuesday to the North Korean people for the death of their leader Kim Jong-Il.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the US hopes the new North Korean leadership chooses to guide their nation onto the path of peace.

Unusually positive signs emerged on Tuesday from the new round of six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions, as Washington indicated that it had no intention of attacking the North. The chief United States delegate, the assistant secretary of state, Christopher Hill, stressed that the US recognised North Korea's sovereignty.

North Korea will resume international nuclear arms talks in Beijing next week after a gap of more than a year, the South Korean foreign ministry announced on Tuesday. The talks have been stalled since the communist North walked out of the previous round of negotiations last June, accusing the United States of "hostility" and "insincerity".