Hopes for progress low as NKorea talks resume

BEIJING, Dec 18: Six-country talks on scrapping North Korea's nuclear arms resumed today after a one-year standoff, but hopes for progress were not high after Pyongyang made clear that its priority was ending a US cash squeeze.

US envoy Chris Hill told reporters before joining other negotiators at a hexagonal table in a secluded Beijing state guesthouse that he hoped to be home for Christmas.

But Beijing said the talks, the first between the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia since Pyongyang staged its first nuclear test on October 9, would be tough.

''The issues to be discussed and addressed by this meeting are complex and profound, and the tasks borne by all the parties are both glorious and arduous,'' Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei told delegates, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The reclusive communist state's nuclear test drew international condemnation -- including from its neighbour, old ally and aid supplier, China -- and UN sanctions.

But most officials and observers believe this week's talks are unlikely to draw a swift compromise from an emboldened North Korea, which now refers to itself as a nuclear state.

Wu said the six negotiating teams, who were accompanied by a throng of interpreters to translate the arcane terminology of nuclear diplomacy into five languages, would discuss ''specific measures'' to implement a joint statement of September 2005.

In that statement, North Korea agreed in principle to give up nuclear weapons in return for aid and security guarantees.

NO SOFTENING

Chris Hill said on Sunday the time had come for Pyongyang to make good on its disarmament promise, warning the reclusive state that the alternative was deeper isolation and sanctions.

''If they want a future with us, if they want to work with us, if they want to be a member of the international community, they're going to have to get out of this nuclear business,'' he said.

A US Treasury Department delegation was expected to meet the North Koreans separately to discuss the US crackdown on Pyongyang's alleged counterfeiting and money laundering.

But the North's chief envoy, Kim Kye-gwan, showed no softening on the eve of the meeting, telling Washington to drop financial restrictions if it wanted the 2005 accord implemented.

Underlining the low expectations, South Korean envoy Chun Yung-woo said the talks would be ''exploratory''. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said last week they were part of a process that could not be judged by one session.

Washington has found a vigorous ally in Beijing, whose traditional support for its communist neighbour has dimmed.

Most Chinese analysts agree that the nuclear blast, which China publicly warned against, galvanised Beijing policy-makers to pressure Pyongyang more actively.

''Beijing's policy has changed markedly. Now China is pushing North Korea harder than before to keep its commitments in the joint statement,'' said Zhu Feng, an international security expert at Peking University. ''The test crisis led to the view that we cannot just always view this as their (US) business.''

REUTERS

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