North Korea Won’t Agree at Talks to End All Nuclear Work

North Korea said today it would not abandon all its nuclear programs as demanded by the United States, leaving the six-party nuclear talks in Beijing deadlocked once again, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Aug. 3).

In the 10th day of talks, the North Korean, South Korean and U.S. delegations met this afternoon for about an hour to discuss the latest draft of principles the parties want to guide future negotiations, said Seoul’s top envoy, Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon.

Pyongyang wants the document to mention only its “nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons program,” leaving out civilian nuclear activity, a South Korean official told the Yonhap news agency. The issue remains the central disagreement, the official said.

A plenary session of top envoys was scheduled for later today, and the talks are expected to continue tomorrow, according host country China.

“I’m neither overly optimistic or pessimistic, it’s a process,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said of the negotiations.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said his delegation to the six-nation talks on North Korea’s nuclear effort has done all it can to persuade Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear programs.

“I don’t want to pressure them. But they’ve got to be able to do it,” he said. “We cannot have a situation where the D.P.R.K. pretends to abandon their nuclear program and we pretend to believe them” (Alexa Olesen, Associated Press/ABCNews.com, Aug. 4).

U.S. and Chinese officials met late yesterday at a Beijing state guesthouse, the New York Times reported. Additional Chinese officials met with the North Korean delegation in a separate area of the facility in an attempt to persuade the North to accept the latest draft of principles.

“Everyone has signed on, but as I understand it, the Chinese are still working” to persuade North Korea, Hill said (Jim Yardley, New York Times, Aug. 4).

Hill seemingly acknowledged that yet another round of talks could end without progress, reinforcing the position of those in the Bush administration who have long insisted North Korea’s case should be referred to the U.N. Security Council for sanctions, the Washington Post reported.

China, meanwhile, continued to push for a consensus list of “agreed principles” as a launching point for further talks.

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing reportedly called Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, providing her with details of the events in Beijing and seeking additional concessions from Washington, according to the Xinhua news agency (Edward Cody, Washington Post, Aug. 4).

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