N KOREA'S KIM IN CONTROL, SAYS OBAMA

       US President Barack Obama said on Sunday he was hoping for progress in the nuclear stand-off with Pyongyang as North Korean leader Kim Mong-il reassetts himself at the helm of the reclusive nation.
       Obama said he had been told by former president Bill Clinton who visited the country in August that Kim, 67, who suffered a stroke last year, was " pretty healthy and in control.
       "That's important to know, because we don't have a lot of interaction with the North Koreans," Obama told CNN, adding that in his talks with Kim, Clinton had "had a chance to see him close up and have conversations.
       "I won't go into any more details than that, but there's no doubt that this is somebody who I think for a while people thought was slipping away. He's reasserted himself."
       Fears over Kim's health after he had a stroke around August 2008 triggered concern among the diplomatic communist nation could be destabilised, tiggering speculation about an eventual succession.
       For months afterwards Pyongyang made a series of bellicose moves, including missiel launces and a nuclear test. But in an unexpected turn of events, North Korea has made recent peace overtures to both Washington and Seoul.
       Obama said he believed the Pyongyang regime may be changing its tactics.
       "I think that North Korea is saying to itself, 'We can't just bang our spoon on the table and somehow think that the world's going to react positively. We've got to start behaving responsibly'.
       "So hopefully we'll start seeing some progress on that front," Obama said.
       He also praised the six-nation pact spearheading efforts to persuade North Korea to come clean about its nuclear ambitions for standing together.
       "This is a success story so far...that we have been able to hold together a coalition that includes the Chinese and The Russians to really apply some of the toughest sanctions we've seen, and it's having an impact," Obama said.
       Washington has said it is prepared to talk directly with Pyongyang in order to bring it back to the six-nation talks, which are hosted by china.
       Kim told a Chinese envoy that he was willing to engage in bilateral and multilateral talks on his country's controversial nuclear programme.