CHINA: U.S. envoy Chistopher Hill says no agreement yet with North Korea on dismantling its nuclear programme, but talks in Beijing are making headway

Talks to end North Korea's nuclear programme fell short of an accord on Saturday (February 10), snagging on disputes over how and when to compensate Pyongyang for disarming. But envoys said the gulf between the parties was narrowing. Envoys from the two Koreas, the United States, Russia, Japan and host China focussed on the energy and aid incentives Pyongyang would receive in exchange for jettisoning its programme. But they have not yet bridged the gap and the negotiations, on and off for more than three years without a resolution, stretch into a fourth day on Sunday (February 11). United States envoy Christopher Hill said there was hope to reach agreement on the joint statement and it was worth staying in China and trying to clinch a deal, which he said could take another day or two. "If I didn't think there was a prospect, I would be on a plane out of here reading about the Red Sox getting ready for spring training. But I really do think there is a prospect, absolutely," he told reporters waiting in his hotel lobby. U.S. envoy Christopher Hill said the dispute centred on one paragraph in a draft joint statement but would not specify the problem. "Frankly, if you look at the overall deal we have gotten, everything else pretty well nailed down. So we are just down to one issue, basically. So, again, as I mentioned I would just love to stand here and pull a rabbit out of a hat, but in this business you would have to spend some time stuffing the rabbit down the hat. And that is what we are going to be doing," said Hill. Hill said North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear plant, at which operations would be suspended within about two months in exchange for energy and economic aid under a draft deal, was not at issue. He said negotiations were at the point where details would have to start getting nailed down. "A joint statement is where you get various parties making an agreement to do certain things, and we are not talking about agreed principles, we are talking about changes on the ground," said Hill. Earlier in the day, South Korea's chief envoy Chun Yung-woo admitted the talks had hit some snags. "The key differences narrow down to one or two points for the moment. The different countries' interests are not coming together easily, so we have not been able to strike an agreement on the document," South Korea's chief envoy Chun Yung-woo told reporters, but he declined to elaborate. Fresh momentum among the six parties came after U.S. and North Korean teams met for unprecedented talks in Berlin last month. That meeting cooled tension after Pyongyang's first nuclear test blast in October, which triggered UN sanctions.

ITN Source | February 11, 2007

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