North Korea Talks Get Nowhere

The first full-fledged international talks on North Korea's nuclear program in the wake of its atomic test failed to reach any breakthroughs, ending Friday with renewed bluster from the communist nation demanding concessions first and threatening to bolster its arsenal.

During five days of meetings in Beijing, the North Koreans didn't have any authority to seek a compromise, the U.S. envoy said. Instead, they refused to address anything besides the North's insistence Washington lift financial restrictions targeting the country's alleged illegal financial activity such as counterfeiting and money laundering.

The talks ended without delegates even setting a firm date for a new meeting, but U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said the delegates would reconvene in "weeks, not months."

The six-nation talks — including China, Japan, Russia, the U.S. and the two Koreas — were the first in 13 months after the North ended a boycott over the U.S. financial restrictions to discuss that issue. Separate U.S.-North Korean financial talks this week in Beijing failed to bridge differences, and the two countries tentatively scheduled another meeting next month in New York.

"We can't go another 13 months" without nuclear talks, Hill said. "We cannot sustain political support for this process ... we do need to make tangible progress," he said.

Hill said there some "encouraging signs" in informal talks with the North Koreans, but declined to elaborate.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she has no reason to believe North Korea is serious about dismantling its nuclear weapons.

"That's what we're testing" at the disarmament talks, Rice told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday, in reference to whether North Korea would meet its commitments.

"They're signed on to denuclearization" in an agreement signed Sept. 19, 2005, that was never implemented, she said. "We'll see whether or not they follow through."

The U.S. and other countries had hoped to discuss putting into action the September agreement from the talks where the North said it would abandon its nuclear programs in exchange for diplomatic recognition and aid. Since the talks began more than three years ago, the North hasn't taken any steps to disarm and instead conducted its first-ever nuclear test on Oct. 9.

Several preliminary meetings between the U.S. and North Koreans following the nuclear test had given the Americans reasons to expect progress, Hill said. However, he said it became clear during the talks the Pyongyang regime hadn't allowed its negotiators to address anything but the financial issue.

"Negotiators ought to come armed with some instructions to negotiate," Hill said Friday evening.

North Korea's chief envoy, Kim Kye Gwan, said his country was working to enhance its atomic capabilities to resist American pressure.

"The U.S. is taking a tactic of both dialogue and pressure, and carrots and sticks," he told reporters. "We are responding with dialogue and a shield. And by a shield, we are saying we will further improve our deterrent."

He insisted the North won't disarm until the U.S. financial restrictions are lifted.

"How can (North Korea) go into such an important discussion on halting the nuclear facilities and also giving up the deterrent which is aimed at safeguarding our sovereignty under such pressure from the United States?" Kim asked.

Still, Kim repeated the country's promises it won't launch a nuclear attack or sell its atomic technology.

"Since we are already a proud nuclear state, we have already announced that we will not threaten other countries with nuclear (weapons) and fully live up to our responsibility of preventing proliferation," Kim said.

Japanese envoy Kenichiro Sasae said Pyongyang risked further isolation from the international community if it did not change its stance. "North Korea lost a very important opportunity," he said.