(Adds quotes and background) By Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush said on Wednesday he wants six-party talks with North Korea on its nuclear program to resume as soon as possible after Pyongyang agreed this week to return to the negotiating table. Bush said he was sending two senior State Department officials, Nicholas Burns and Robert Joseph, to the region to discuss strategy for getting the long-stalled talks under way and to make sure U.N. sanctions on Pyongyang are implemented. In a sign of lingering suspicion, Bush said North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had tried before to sow division among the United States and other members of the talks, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea, aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear program. But Bush voiced hope that North Korea, which carried out its first nuclear test on Oct. 9 in defiance of international pressure, "now recognizes the seriousness of ... the five parties." "I would hope he is sincere," Bush told Reuters and other wire services in a White House interview. North Korea said it was returning to the talks because Washington had agreed to discuss a U.S. financial crackdown Pyongyang says drove it from the negotiating table in 2005. "We want these talks to succeed," Bush said. "We have always believed that we can solve the Korean and North Korean nuclear issue peacefully." "Success will mean that the North Koreans verifiably give up their weapons and weapons programs," he added. Asked when he wanted talks to resume, he said: "As soon as possible." But he acknowledged differences over the timing, saying "we've got to work together, the five of us, to develop a strategy." China wants talks to resume by the end of November, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported. Bush insists on keeping in place financial and arms sanctions imposed on North Korea by the U.N. Security Council days after Pyongyang carried out its underground nuclear explosion. Tuesday's breakthrough meeting between North Korean, U.S. and Chinese officials in Beijing was the highest-level direct contact between U.S. and North Korean officials for about a year. Analysts said North Korea had agreed to return to the talks in part over fears of the impact of the sanctions, especially those threatened by China, the closest it has to an ally and its major food and fuel benefactor. But they said fresh talks did not mean a change of heart in Pyongyang and a quick resolution of the standoff was unlikely. Washington had previously insisted it would only deal directly with Pyongyang within the six-party framework. (Additional reporting by Steve Holland)
