N. Korea Talks Make Slow Steps
Six-nation talks to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program are focusing on a draft statement of principles that will guide future negotiations, the main U.S. envoy said.
Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill stressed that differences remained over how to resolve the standoff.
“Today was the first opportunity, really, to take something that could become the final document and try to see if we can reach agreement on it,” Hill said Saturday of a draft proposed by host China.
He wouldn’t give details of the document, but said, “We think it’s a good basis” for negotiation. No end date for the talks has been set, and Hill said he doubted that they would conclude today because of the remaining work to be done.
Hill held another one-on-one meeting Saturday with the delegation from North Korea, the fifth such direct contact at the talks.
“As much as I would like to talk about progress, you know it’s hard to talk about progress until you actually have an agreement,” Hill said.
The current round of talks in Beijing, which opened Tuesday, is the fourth session.
The talks also include Japan, Russia and South Korea.
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