Little optimism evident as Korean nuke talks resume

Dec 22, 2006, 9:11 GMT

Beijing - Stalled six-party talks aimed at stopping North Korea's nuclear weapons programme were set to resume in Beijing on Friday, but negotiators saw little hope for an early breakthrough.

'They need to show some seriousness,' US negotiator Christopher Hill told reporters before Friday's talks got underway. He said he was 'not aware' of any sign of a breakthrough.

'Today is the last day of the talks,' he added.

Asked whether another round of talks would be held after Friday's final scheduled meeting, Hill said, 'We will see the progress, and see whether it is valuable.'

   'Our purpose is the denuclearization. We'll have to evaluate this round in terms of whether we move towards the goal.'

North Korea, the US, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia took part in the talks that resumed Monday after a year-long hiatus.

The Chinese news agency Xinhua Friday quoted Chun Yung Woo, the top negotiator of the Republic of Korea, as saying any 'meaningful' progress in talks later Friday would depend on the negotiating stand taken by the North Koreans.

'Now, we need to think about a realistic goal,' an unnamed South Korean negotiator was quoted by his country's Yonhap news agency as saying. 'Although this round of talks does not produce a deal, it could serve as a bridge for a future agreement.'

In Washington, meanwhile, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged negotiators at the six-party talks not to be diverted by peripheral issues like financial sanctions against Pyongyang.

'Now, diplomacy sometimes takes time, but we should not be diverted somehow by an issue that is clearly in another lane and is clearly being dealt with in a way that the North Koreans themselves asked that it be dealt with,' she said. 'We cannot be diverted from what we need to do in the six-party talks, which is to have the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.'