BEIJING – America and China both expressed determination yesterday to make long-awaited headway toward a settlement in six-nation talks aimed at persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Washington also assured North Korea it has no intention of attacking, and Pyongyang promised to work toward a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, opening moves that also indicated a shared goal of progress.

The latest round of talks resumed in Beijing, the closest ally of the isolated, communist North, after a 13-month boycott by North Korea, which had cited “hostile” American policies. Delegates struck an amiable note before the meeting, smiling and clasping hands for a group photo. The other participants are South Korea, Japan, and Russia.

The chief American and North Korean envoys seemed especially determined to move ahead after three earlier rounds of talks produced no breakthroughs. The two men held a one-on-one meeting yesterday – their second in as many days, and a departure from Washington’s previous refusal to have direct contact with the North.

“These talks are at a critical juncture,” the assistant secretary of state, Christopher Hill, said at the opening ceremony. “We do not have the option of walking away from this problem.”

His North Korean counterpart, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, said, “The fundamental thing is to make real progress in realizing the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

“This requires very firm political will and a strategic decision of the parties concerned that have interests in ending the threat of nuclear war,” Mr. Kim said. “We are fully ready and prepared for that.”

Mr. Hill directly addressed one of the North’s sticking points, assuring Pyongyang that Washington recognized its sovereignty and would not attack to end the standoff. “We view [North Korea’s] sovereignty as a matter of fact. The United States has absolutely no intention to invade or attack,” he said.

“Nuclear weapons will not make [North Korea] more secure,” he said. “And in fact, on the contrary, nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula will only increase tension in the region.”

A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Qin Gang, also expressed optimism. “This is a solid foundation for us to usher our talks into a stage of more in-depth discussion and make important progress,” he said.

After his one-on-one session with Mr. Kim, Mr. Hill told reporters that the North Koreans expressed concerns about the “sequencing” of proposals. Washington has said it wants verifiable disarmament before the North is rewarded, while Pyongyang insists on getting something in exchange for a nuclear freeze and more concessions as it disarms.

Russia’s Interfax news agency, citing unidentified North Korean sources, said the North also demanded that America withdraw nuclear weapons from the South as part of any settlement. Both Washington and Seoul deny that any American nuclear weapons are present in the South.

A possible stumbling block is Japan’s insistence on resolving the issue of its citizens abducted by the North.

South Korea’s negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon, appeared to warn Japan not to derail the negotiations, saying it “would definitely not be desirable to take up issues that would disintegrate the focus of the talks.”