WORLD / Asia-Pacific
N. Korea nuke talks to be extended
(AP)
Updated: 2007-02-12 19:12
US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, left, speaks to
reporters in Beijing, China, Monday, Feb. 12, 2007. [AP]
BEIJING - Talks on North Korea's nuclear program were likely to be
extended a day in a possible sign of narrowing differences, a South
Korean official said Monday, as envoys lay responsibility for resolving
the long-running standoff solely on Pyongyang.
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Six-party talks restart in Beijing
Over the previous four days, the six-country talks in Beijing have
stalled over disagreements on energy assistance for the North in exchange
for its abandonment of nuclear weapons.
"It is up to the North Koreans. We have put everything on the table. We
have offered a way forward on a number of issues. They just need to make
a decision," US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told
reporters before Monday's session, which he said would be the last day of
talks.
But later after a series of meetings between delegations, a South Korean
official said negotiations were expected to be extended another day.
"Consultations among the countries are under way in a more sincere
manner," the official said on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing
diplomacy. "The talks are expected to continue tomorrow although China
has not yet made any decision."
The current round of six-nation talks began on a promising note after the
United States and North Korea signaled a willingness to compromise. But
negotiations quickly became mired on the energy issue.
The negotiations - which include the two Koreas, the US, Japan, China and
Russia - have plodded on intermittently for more than three years.
Adding pressure on the delegates was a sense that failure to reach an
agreement this time could permanently doom the talks.
"There's a certain life cycle to these negotiations," Hill said Monday.
If North Korea rejects the current proposal, the American diplomat
speculated that there would "be some political climate change, if not in
the US, then maybe among some other countries."
But he added, "I don't want to predict that this is the last chance."
Negotiators had hoped the latest round would result in North Korea taking
its first concrete steps in dismantling its nuclear program, an issue
that became especially critical after the North conducted its first
nuclear test explosion in October.
The issue that had previously stalled the talks - US financial
restrictions against a Macau bank with North Korean accounts - was not an
obstacle this time.
Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported Monday that the US told North
Korea last month it is prepared to proclaim that US$11 million in
Pyongyang's assets at the bank was legitimately earned, and was not
related to alleged North Korean crimes including counterfeiting and money
laundering.
The move would allow the money to be released from accounts frozen after
Washington blacklisted the bank in 2005.
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