But it's confident that China and the Soviet Union can keep their North Korean ally in line.

Russia, a North Korean ally, warned it today against withdrawing from the international agreement to halt the spread of nuclear weapons.

"And that's something we'll continue to follow closely and continue to keep in very close touch with our South Korean ally on."

In Korea, the American military handed over captured soldiers to their South Korean allies.

"In the meantime, we must keep deterrence strong and support the patient efforts of our South Korean ally."

You'd never know that we had Australian and South Korean allies, sometimes even the Vietnamese are unvisible.

GS: We warn our respective Korean allies that we will only help them in defense.

And we're also bound by prudence to stand with our South Korean allies, yes.

One benefit of the administration's decision to resume negotiations should be closer coordination between the United States and its South Korean ally.

Mr Campbell said he urged China to stress the need for restraint to its North Korean allies.