NKorea wants US to end "hostile" policy at talks

BEIJING, Dec 16 (Reuters) North Korea will not abandon its nuclear weapons until the United States gives up what Pyongyang regards as a ''hostile'' policy towards it and drops financial sanctions, its envoy to nuclear talks said today.

Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan added it was ''too early to be optimistic'' about progress at the talks, aimed at dismantling its nuclear programmes, which resume in Beijing on Monday between the two Koreas, China, the United States, Russia and Japan.

''The most important issue is for the US to make a switchover in its policy. The problem will be resolved when the hostile policy is changed to a policy of co-existence,'' Kim told reporters on arrival in Beijing.'' ''I do not yet know whether the US is prepared to do that.'' US talks envoy Christopher Hill, speaking to reporters in Tokyo, said US hostility was focused on Pyongyang's nuclear policy, and that he expected to meet Kim tomorrow afternoon.

The comments were a sign the Beijing negotiations were starting off with the routine staking out of positions, with the key protagonists -- North Korea and the United States -- their usual poles apart and expectations of a breakthrough low.

This talks session is the first since North Korea, defying international warnings, test-fired missiles in July and carried out a nuclear test in October, drawing UN sanctions.

The United States wants measurable progress towards North Korea implementing the September 2005 six-party talks accord, in which Pyongyang agreed in principle to scrap its nuclear weapons in exchange for aid and security guarantees.

Still, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hinted at flexibility, saying in an interview with Reuters yesterday that the negotiations were part of a process and could not be judged by one session.

FLEXIBLE? Rice insisted that UN sanctions imposed on Pyongyang for the October 9 nuclear weapons test would continue to be enforced even if the six-country talks in Beijing showed progress.

But she indicated flexibility on resolving a dispute over what Washington says is Pyongyang's counterfeiting of US dollars and money laundering, which led to freezing of North Korean accounts at the Macau-based Banco Delta Asia.

''We're not going to allow them to continue to violate our laws, but obviously we'll look at the totality of all of this and see where we are after the next couple of rounds,'' Rice said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the United States against further ratcheting up tension and singled out the US freezing of North Korean accounts, saying it had ''stopped in its tracks'' progress achieved through the six-party talks.

''If any such harsh steps are taken now by one or other of the sides, we will once again run into a blind alley,'' Lavrov said on television. He called on all sides ''not to whip up emotion.'' North Korea boycotted the six-party talks for more than a year after November 2005, blaming the US-led financial crackdown.

Kim called today for sanctions to be lifted before Pyongyang would abandon its nuclear weapons, though it was unclear if he was referring to the US financial curbs, the action taken by the United Nations, or both.

South Korean talks envoy Chun Yung-woo, arriving in Beijing, said this week would provide a good opportunity to salvage some progress on the nuclear crisis.

''The situation has gone to the extreme in the past 13 months, so I anticipate very difficult negotiations,'' Chun said.

''Whether we take advantage of or lose the opportunity depends solely on the political will of the participating countries.'' REUTERS MS HT1800