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Envoys meet to discuss N Korea US envoy urges N Korea progress
(about 18 hours later)
Top negotiators from the US and North Korea are holding talks in a bid to break a deadlock on a deal aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear programme. Progress was made at talks between the US and North Korea aimed at reviving the stalled nuclear deal but more headway is needed, the US envoy said.
Christopher Hill is meeting counterpart Kim Kye-gwan at the US mission in the Swiss city of Geneva. Christopher Hill described his talks with counterpart Kim Kye-gwan in the Swiss city of Geneva as "substantive".
North Korea agreed last year to end its nuclear activities in return for economic aid. But he urged the North Korean side to "pick up the pace" of the negotiations.
But progress on the deal stalled after Pyongyang missed a year-end deadline to fully disclose its nuclear programmes. North Korea agreed last year to end its nuclear activities in return for economic aid, but the deal is currently deadlocked.
The two men met in Beijing last month but failed to achieve a breakthrough. The communist nation has closed its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, but it missed a year-end deadline to provide a complete declaration of all of its nuclear activities.
Enriched uranium Uranium row
Since agreeing to the disarmament deal in February 2007, North Korea has closed its Yongbyon nuclear reactor. In a late-night news conference, Mr Hill said the two sides had "had good discussions on all substantive issues".
But, says the US, it did not produce a complete declaration of its nuclear activities by the end of 2007, as promised. class="" href="/1/hi/in_pictures/7263602.stm">In pictures: Yongbyon reactor
class="" href="/1/hi/in_pictures/7263602.stm">In Pictures: Yongbyon reactor One issue is whether or not Pyongyang has a secret programme to enrich uranium for weapons purposes. At issue is whether or not Pyongyang has a secret programme to enrich uranium for weapons purposes, and whether it has transferred nuclear technology overseas.
Another is whether it has been involved in transferring nuclear technology to other countries. North Korea denies both allegations and says it has already given Washington full details of all its nuclear activities.
North Korea denies both allegations and says it has already given Washington full details of its nuclear programmes. "We have really had to challenge and to work with them on [the two issues]," Mr Hill said.
It accuses the US and other parties to the deal - South Korea, China, Russia and Japan - of failing to provide agreed aid. "I'm not really in a position to tell whether we've resolved that except to say that I think we've made some progress today."
It also wants the US to remove it from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. He also called on North Korea to accelerate the pace of the talks.
Talks were expected to last a day but could extend into Friday if necessary, a US State Department spokesman said. "We are already in March and we have some ambitions for trying to get through this in 2008. There is no question we need to move faster," he said.
Mr Kim told reporters he was "satisfied" with the talks.
The two men would now return to their respective capitals to brief top leaders, Mr Hill said.
North Korea carried out a nuclear test in October 2006.