Amid Mixed Signals, N. Korea Agrees to a Nuclear Freeze

North Korea on Thursday said it was willing to conditionally halt its nuclear activities, a day after South Korea offered to give Pyongyang energy aid in return for giving up its weapons program.

The six-nation talks aimed at ending Pyongyang’s nuclear arms program concluded their second day here amid mixed signals.

“All sides of the six-party talks welcome the DPRK’s proposal to stop its nuclear program,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. “The various parties involved had in-depth discussions on the first stage of the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. If there is an agreement, China is ready, along with the other parties, to provide energy assistance.”

But later in the day, a North Korean official issued a tough statement blaming the United States for blocking progress in the talks. It was unclear whether the North Korean position was a significant change or just another of its belligerent official statements.

It was also unclear whether North Korea intended to stop its programs to produce plutonium or enrich uranium, activities alleged by the United States. The Russian delegation characterized North Korea’s position as ready to give up its “military” nuclear program rather than its “peaceful” one.

Despite the confusion, some analysts said the North’s action was a significant, considering how little was accomplished when the six sides -- which also include Japan -- met here in August and how low the expectations were for this second round.

“It looks like this time they came prepared and they are looking for some kind of agreement,” said Li Dunqiu, a North Korea expert with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The current crisis started in fall 2002 when Pyongyang acknowledged that it had restarted its nuclear program, in violation of a 1994 agreement to renounce its weapons ambitions in return for oil and other aid. The United States has insisted that North Korea fully dismantle its nuclear programs before any talks of a reward. So far only South Korea, Russia and China have signed on to the proposal to grant North Korea concessions in return for a nuclear freeze.

Pyongyang, on the other hand, is waiting for Washington to take the initiative. In December, the impoverished North had made a similar offer to stop its weapons programs if the U.S. would grant it economic aid and security guarantees. That proposal was rejected.

South Korea attempted to bridge the gap Wednesday by offering the North a three-step plan to get rid of its weapons program in return for concessions.

“The key question now is who takes the first step,” said Shen Dingli, an international affairs expert at Shanghai’s Fudan University. “Other than that, everything else has been said before.”

South Korean media reported Thursday that the North was far from happy with Washington’s tough stance.

“We will abandon our nuclear weapons program when the United States drops its hostile policy toward North Korea,” said Choe Jin Su, North Korea’s ambassador to China, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. “The United States should take all the responsibility for the meeting not making progress.”

In contrast, American officials sounded upbeat that the talks were going well.

“The results of the first two days of meetings are positive,” Secretary of State Colin L. Powell told the Senate Budget Committee. “There’s a promising attitude that is emerging from those meetings, and hopefully we can move in the right direction there.”

Analysts said it should come as no surprise that Pyongyang was still resorting to angry posturing. It would be hard to imagine North Korea rolling over and cooperating with its old enemy the United States, as Libya did. Libya recently acknowledged its nuclear weapons programs and has allowed intrusive inspections.

Yet that doesn’t mean Pyongyang isn’t under pressure to compromise.

North Korean leader “Kim Jong Il’s government would never do this to help Bush win reelection, neither would they want to walk away totally empty-handed,” said Li, the North Korea expert in China. “So far it appears they have accepted the premise that the goal is not whether or not to talk about dismantlement but how to make it happen.”

That is unlikely to be decided by today, when the meetings are expected to end.