Little Progress At Beijing Talks

N. Korea Vows To Keep Nuke Program Intact Until U.S. 'Threat' Gone

(AP) 
U.S. officials said in late 2002 that the North admitted to violating a 1994 deal by embarking on a secret uranium enrichment program, sparking the latest nuclear standoff.

"I don't know where we go with this," the chief U.S. delegate, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, said before Tuesday's meetings.

His South Korean counterpart, Song Min-soon, added: "In the current situation, we are almost running out of wisdom."

Unlike previous negotiations where the sides failed to agree on a joint statement, delegates this time have set no deadline for the talks and appeared determined to work out a declaration.

No details of any drafts have been released, but reports have said it would mention energy aid and a security guarantee for Pyongyang and eventually normalized political relations with Washington.

"We'll stay here as long as we feel we're making progress," Hill said late Monday. "If we're not making progress, we're not going to stay."

Despite delegates' pessimistic tone, analysts cautioned it was too soon to talk about deadlock.

"North Korea has a tendency to use brinkmanship in the last stage to get maximum concessions," said Ko Yu-hwan, professor of North Korean studies at South Korea's Dongguk University. "The pessimistic atmosphere or last-minute struggle can, in a way, be seen as a sign that we are close to getting results from the talks."

Ko said the six nations would likely adopt a joint statement that "suggests the general direction toward the first stage" of dismantling the North's nuclear weapons program, rather than addressing complete dismantlement.

Pyongyang has previously demanded a phased-in process of dismantling its nuclear weapons program, while Washington has called on a complete dismantlement within the short time period before it grants any concessions.

In February, the North claimed it had nuclear weapons and has since taken steps that would allow it to harvest more plutonium for possible use in bombs. Many experts believe the North already has enough weapons-grade material for about a half-dozen atomic weapons.