1.   U.S. and North Korean officials have cleared away most of the obstacles toward opening liaison offices in their capitals, State Department officials said Friday.

2.   In the North Korean capital, the talks will focus on eventually opening liaison offices -- a first step toward full diplomatic relations.

3.   But neither official announced any progress toward opening liaison bureaux, a development sketched earlier this year as a means of normalising ties.

4.   The Pyongyang talks will discuss opening liaison offices.

5.   US and Vietnamese officials began talks on opening liaison offices shortly after President Bill Clinton lifted a decades-old trade ban in February.

6.   The matter of opening liaison offices could also come up, said the official.