North Korean nuclear talks extended, but no progress
By Zhi Hao,WNS Beijing Correspondent
BEIJING - Six-nation talks aimed at convincing North Korea to give up its nuclear arms were extended on Wednesday but delegates reported no major progress and signalled a breakthrough was highly unlikely. The main round of six-party talks was slated to wrap up on Thursday, but the delegates agreed to stay for at least one extra day to try and find some common ground, South Korean envoy Chun Yung-Woo said, revealing a previously undisclosed time frame. However, two days of bilateral talks on the sticking point of financial sanctions between the US and North Korea, on the sidelines of the main talks, ended without a clear resolution, with American officials suggesting a meeting in New York next month.
At the end of talks, the top US envoy said he met informally with his North Korean counterpart, but confirmed no firm agreements had yet been reached. Speaking at the end of discussions late Wednesday, US top negotiator Christopher Hill said: "I had a couple of informal meetings with the DPRK and I also talked with Kim Kye-Gwan", his North Korean counterpart. Hill said some progress had been made since Monday, but added nothing had been put forward to convince North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. "I think the discussions have been very useful in the last day, day and a half," he said. "Whether we are very successful at the end of the week, I think time will tell. Certainly we are talking about much more than things on paper, we are discussing actual developments on the ground."
The six-party talks are aimed at convincing the North to give up its nuclear arms in return for security guarantees, energy aid and a possible future nuclear power plant, a deal that was suspended 13 months ago after North Korean anger at US financial sanctions. Although he would not be drawn on a time frame, Hill said the old deal could be reimplemented in "a lot shorter than a year". He also hinted that China was preparing for a possible final statement, but gave no indication of what form such a statement might take.
posted by wnsworld @ 1:31 PM
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