February 11, 2009 5:22 PM
- Text
"Good First Day" At N. Korea Nuke Talks
(CBS/AP)
The main U.S. nuclear envoy said Thursday that North Korea nuclear talks resumed on a positive note, and that sides were hoping to achieve an agreement on the first steps for Pyongyang's disarmament.
"We had a good first day today," Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters Thursday evening. "We hope we can achieve some kind of joint statement here."
A draft statement was in fact distributed later Thursday by the Chinese hosts of the talks, a South Korean official said.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing diplomacy, gave no details of the draft.
However, other delegates said earlier the agreement would outline initial steps for implementing a September 2005 agreement reached at six-nation talks where Pyongyang pledged to disarm in exchange for aid and security guarantees.
Unlike the last round of six-nation talks in December, Hill said the countries "were able to make progress on discussing denuclearization."
Hill had said the Chinese draft agreement would lay out a "set of actions taken in a finite amount of time." He declined to give specifics, but said the moves would take place in a matter of "single-digit weeks."
"We are prepared to discuss first-stage measures," North Korean nuclear envoy Kim Kye Gwan said on arriving in Beijing for the six-nation negotiations, which began at a Chinese state guesthouse.
American experts who visited Kim in Pyongyang last week said North Korea would propose a freeze of its main nuclear reactor and a resumption of international inspections in exchange for energy aid and a normalization of relations with Washington.
CBS News reporter Celia Hatton reports that North Korea's primary demand is likely to be that Washington hand over roughly $24 million in assets that was frozen by the U.S. government.
The Bush administration has maintained that the money is tied to counterfeiting and money laundering.
But, Hatton says, many analysts believe the U.S. will offer — or may already have offered — to free up some of the funds to get the diplomatic ball rolling.
Kim said Thursday that any moves by North Korea would depend on the United States' attitude.
"We are going to make a judgment based on whether the United States will give up its hostile policy and come out toward peaceful coexistence," he said, adding that the U.S. was "well aware" of what it had to do.
"Pyongyang has made it clear that it will make initial unilateral gestures, but expects some movement from Washington, particularly in the area of restoring diplomatic relations," says CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk.
North Korea has twice boycotted the nuclear talks for more than a year, claiming various U.S. policies show the Bush administration intends to topple its communist government.
"I'm not either optimistic or pessimistic because there are still many points of confrontation to resolve," Kim said.
Still, his comments marked a change in North Korea's position from the last round of talks in December, when Kim refused to even discuss disarmament and demanded the lifting of U.S. financial restrictions against a Macau bank where North Korea held accounts.
"We had a good first day today," Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters Thursday evening. "We hope we can achieve some kind of joint statement here."
A draft statement was in fact distributed later Thursday by the Chinese hosts of the talks, a South Korean official said.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing diplomacy, gave no details of the draft.
However, other delegates said earlier the agreement would outline initial steps for implementing a September 2005 agreement reached at six-nation talks where Pyongyang pledged to disarm in exchange for aid and security guarantees.
Unlike the last round of six-nation talks in December, Hill said the countries "were able to make progress on discussing denuclearization."
Hill had said the Chinese draft agreement would lay out a "set of actions taken in a finite amount of time." He declined to give specifics, but said the moves would take place in a matter of "single-digit weeks."
"We are prepared to discuss first-stage measures," North Korean nuclear envoy Kim Kye Gwan said on arriving in Beijing for the six-nation negotiations, which began at a Chinese state guesthouse.
American experts who visited Kim in Pyongyang last week said North Korea would propose a freeze of its main nuclear reactor and a resumption of international inspections in exchange for energy aid and a normalization of relations with Washington.
CBS News reporter Celia Hatton reports that North Korea's primary demand is likely to be that Washington hand over roughly $24 million in assets that was frozen by the U.S. government.
The Bush administration has maintained that the money is tied to counterfeiting and money laundering.
But, Hatton says, many analysts believe the U.S. will offer — or may already have offered — to free up some of the funds to get the diplomatic ball rolling.
Kim said Thursday that any moves by North Korea would depend on the United States' attitude.
"We are going to make a judgment based on whether the United States will give up its hostile policy and come out toward peaceful coexistence," he said, adding that the U.S. was "well aware" of what it had to do.
"Pyongyang has made it clear that it will make initial unilateral gestures, but expects some movement from Washington, particularly in the area of restoring diplomatic relations," says CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk.
North Korea has twice boycotted the nuclear talks for more than a year, claiming various U.S. policies show the Bush administration intends to topple its communist government.
"I'm not either optimistic or pessimistic because there are still many points of confrontation to resolve," Kim said.
Still, his comments marked a change in North Korea's position from the last round of talks in December, when Kim refused to even discuss disarmament and demanded the lifting of U.S. financial restrictions against a Macau bank where North Korea held accounts.
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Scott Conroy Scott Conroy is a National Political Reporter for RealClearPolitics and a contributor for CBS News.
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