The impasse over North Korea’s nuclear disarmament could finally be broken this month if President George W. Bush treads a cautious path in Wednesday’s state of the union address.

Four months after the latest round of multilateral talks was scheduled to be held, Pyongyang is running out of excuses for avoiding further negotiations. It was first said to be waiting for the outcome of the presidential election to assess the US stance, then the appointment of administration officials and latterly Mr Bush’s inauguration.