US and NKorean envoys dig in for second day of nuclear talks
By Tony White,WNS Asia Bureau Chief
BEIJING - US and North Korean envoys dug in Wednesday for a second day of tough negotiations laying the groundwork for a resumption of six-nation talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear arms program. US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill was scheduled to meet again with North Korean envoy Kim Kye-Gwan and Chinese negotiator Wu Dawei, US government officials in Washington and Beijing said. The envoys met on Tuesday amid an invigorated push to resume the six-party negotiation process that began in 2003 but have been stalled for the past year over North Korean objections to US financial sanctions against it.
Asked on Wednesday if he was optimistic progress would be made, Hill told Japanese television: "Oh, I don't know. I have no idea". "But what I do know is the first round of talks will need to make progress and that's what I'm working on," he said before going into a meeting. The new focus on restarting the process also has drawn Japanese and South Korean envoys to a flurry of diplomatic meetings this week in China, which has played host to the six-party forum. Hill has said he hopes this week's discussions can lead to a resumption of full-fledged nuclear negotiations in mid-December.
Tuesday's meeting between Hill and Kim was their first since secret meetings in Beijing on October 31 that also included China's Wu. Following those meetings, North Korea agreed to rejoin the negotiations in principle, but no date was set. The resumption of full talks took on a new urgency following Pyongyang's nuclear test blast on October 9, which triggered United Nations sanctions. US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said late on Tuesday that the US, North Korean and Chinese envoys were to meet together and then bilaterally on Wednesday as they did the previous day. The six-party talks have involved China -- Pyongyang's closest ally -- along with North Korea, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the United States.
posted by wnsworld @ 10:22 PM
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