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NKorea nuke talks must be
resolved: US
Singapore — The U.S. nuclear negotiator warned that time was running
out Tuesday as he opened a new round of talks with his North Korean
counterpart to resolve a deadlock over the communist nation’s
nuclear program.
Still, neither side expected to reach a conclusive deal during the
daylong talks at the U.S. Embassy in Singapore.
“We are not looking for an agreement,” Assistant Secretary of State
Christopher Hill, the top U.S. nuclear negotiator, told reporters
before starting talks with North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim
Kye Gwan.
“I think we are looking to have a consultation on some of the issues
that have kept us apart for several months and certainly I will be
discussing the fact that we are kind of running out of time,” Hill
said.
No details of the talks were released when the two officials broke
for lunch.
Six-nation talks on disarming Pyongyang of its capabilities to build
nuclear weapons have been stalled for months because of a
disagreement over disclosure. Hill had said Monday that the two
sides cannot “afford any further delays here.”
The United States says North Korea missed a Dec. 31 deadline to
provide a full inventory of its nuclear activities and facilities.
North Korea says it provided a list in November, but the U.S. says
it was incomplete.
Japan’s Kyodo news agency quoted Kim as saying the U.S. caused the
deadlock. Kim said he was not optimistic about Tuesday’s talks
“because we do not yet completely understand the U.S. position,”
according to Kyodo.
Hill disagreed with the reported comment “They know precisely what
the issues are and they understand that we didn’t want to meet
unless we can achieve something,” he said Tuesday. The main sticking
points are believed to be what Pyongyang will reveal about nuclear
know-how or materials it may have provided to other nations, and
allegations about a secret North Korean uranium enrichment program
in addition to its known plutonium program.
North Korea began disabling its main nuclear facilities last year in
exchange for aid and diplomatic concessions under an agreement with
China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States, the other
countries involved in the six-party talks.
Most of the tasks to disable the facilities have been completed,
with American experts working to ensure the plutonium-making
facility would require at least a year to become operational again.
From Singapore, Hill will go to Beijing, where he will meet with the
heads of delegations of South Korea, Japan and China. He said he
will also brief the Russian ambassador to China.
Hill said there is also a possibility of a meeting between South
Korea, Japan and the U.S. but that no date had been set.—Agencies
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