US plans more one-on-one nuclear talks with NKorea

Beijing, Dec 20: The United States said it was planning moreone-on-one talks with North Korea in a push to make progress inmultinational negotiations aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclearprogramme.

Chief US envoy Christopher Hill held what he called ''lengthy andsubstantive'' negotiations with his North Korean counterpart KimKye-gwan yesterday and said he planned for more of the same as talksentered their third day today.

Hill also stressed the need for North Korea, also known as theDemocratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), to take steps towardsgiving up its nuclear arsenal.

''I think the DPRK needs to work on this because I do believe thatat the end of this six-party process, however it turns out, it willhelp determine that country's future in a way that I think is fairlyprofound,'' Hill told reporters late yesterday.

The talks, which group the two Koreas, the United States, Japan,Russia and host China, are the first in more than a year, and aretaking place in the shadow of North Korea's first nuclear test onOctober 9.

The other five parties say they are hoping to make progressimplementing a September 2005 agreement in which North Korea agreed inprinciple to give up its nuclear weapons in return for aid and securityguarantees.

''Putting it into practice in stages is the reasonable andrealistic choice,'' China's chief negotiator Wu Dawei said in astatement.

But North Korea opened the talks saying it would not compromiseuntil UN sanctions and US financial curbs against it were lifted and itwas provided with a new nuclear reactor.

A separate delegation from the US Treasury Department was expectedto hold a second day of talks today with North Korean bank officialsabout the financial curbs, though envoys cautioned that any progresswould be a longterm process.

Reuters

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