Dull but worthy - covering NKorea's nuclear talks

BEIJING, Dec 20 (Reuters) Hours of boredom and frustration interspersed with moments of tension and drama -- the life of the reporter covering talks on North Korea's nuclear programme is no fun.

There's the trips to the airport when delegates fly in, the waiting around in hotel lobbies for officials to show up. The ''will-they-or-won't-they speak to reporters today?'' worry.

The South Koreans, Japanese and Americans all brief reguarly, even if it's at midnight or 7 am. The Chinese less so.

The North Koreans? Well, they do live in one of the world's most isolated states and don't exactly have a reputation for press freedom. Still, they've been known to call sudden, midnight briefings that tend to be low on question-and-answer and heavy on their government's rhetoric.

Not that the heads of the other delegations, who are constantly followed by the press, necessarily always have much to say between their last briefing late at night and their first the next day at the crack of dawn.

''My expectations are about the same as when I went to bed,'' bleary-eyed chief US negotiator Christopher Hill told his clamouring audience today.

And language can be an issue.

With most of the Chinese reporters who have thronged to the talks able to speak only Mandarin and English, they pester their Japanese and South Korean counterparts to translate what their respective officials have said.

One Chinese newspaper has dubbed Japanese and South Korean reporters ''hotcakes'' in reference to their sudden popularity.

''Fortunately some Japanese journalists have been very patient in answering everyone's questions,'' the Beijing News said yesterday.

Most reporters are barred from approaching the secluded centre in the tightly guarded Diaoyutai State Guesthouse where the talks are taking place, and can only watch cars with blacked- out windows sweeping past them and the stern guards on the gates.

Despite this, camera crews line up every day in the bitter cold of the Beijing winter.

Others camp out at the press centre or one of the hotels where the delegations are staying, desperately hoping someone will appear and talk to them.

One Japanese reporter was overheard complaining this week that he was unable to take advantage of the enormous indoor swimming pool at one of the hotels he had been staking out, even during the hours of downtime when no officials were in sight.

''If something happens suddenly, I won't be able to put on clothes fast enough to cover briefings,'' he muttered.

During a protracted round of talks last summer, reporters literally took to camping at the luxury Beijing hotel where Hill was staying.

Bringing in camp chairs and tables, they annoyed hotel staff by staying around the clock, ordering in food and making a mess.

Even the usually chatty Hill became irritated at constantly being greeted by crowds of reporters at the hotel, day and night.

''Why are you here?'' he growled late one evening. ''Go home! Have a beer.'' REUTERS PB PM0923