The quest for consensus over the response to Pyongyang's shock atom bomb test last month dominated both official debate on the first day of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit and a flurry of sideline diplomacy.
Leaders from the United States, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea -- the five nations involved in talks with the North on ending its nuclear program -- shuttled to and fro around Hanoi, conferring on their next move.
US President George W. Bush held a rare trilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun, while Russian President Vladimir Putin huddled with China's Hu Jintao.
The 21 APEC members were to issue a statement Sunday against North Korea for its October 9 nuclear test, the White House said, but China and Russia -- Pyongyang's closest allies -- urged a more measured approach to the standoff.
Efforts to break down barriers to free trade more easily won support from APEC leaders, who called for an immedi