US envoy hints of movement at six party talks

BEIJING, Dec 20 (Reuters) The US envoy to six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear crisis held out the possibility today of agreement on preliminary steps towards defusing the standoff by the end of the week.

The developments were the first hint of any progress in the discussions between the United States, the two Koreas, Russia, Japan and host China that resumed on Monday after more than a year's break.

US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters after a day of meetings including a bilateral with his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye-gwan, that the parties hoped to ''get an agreement that would constitute a first batch of elements for implementation''.

Hill said the parties were ''working out implementation of some of the issues'' in the joint statement from September 2005, in which North Korea agreed to dismantle its nuclear programmes in exchange for aid and security guarantees.

Papers were circulating among delegates, which could yield a statement by the end of the week and which dealt with issues of sequencing, but negotiations were tough and complex. North Korea has demanded the incentives before it dismantles, while Washington wants steps toward disarmament before offering guarantees.

''Nothing is agreed unless everything is agreed,'' Hill said.

Hill added that he would meet his North Korean counterpart again tomorrow.

North Korea tested a nuclear device in October, a move that drew international condemnation and UN sanctions.

At the start of this week's talks, Pyongyang's envoy demanded the lifting of the UN sanctions, as well as US curbs aimed at crippling what Washington regards as its ''illicit financing'' sources, before it would agree to dismantle its nuclear programmes.

Reuters SY GC2042