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No movement in N Korea-US talks US 'tables North Korea proposal'
(about 4 hours later)
North Korean and US officials are continuing one-to-one negotiations on the sidelines of six-nation talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear activities. The US is reported to have put forward a package of incentives for North Korea to end its nuclear programme, during high-level talks in Beijing.
US envoy Christopher Hill said he was neither optimistic nor pessimistic about the talks, under way in Beijing. The US has offered a written pledge not to attack if Pyongyang lets in nuclear inspectors, South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted diplomats as saying.
Mr Hill said he had held business-like talks with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye-gwan, on Tuesday with some healthy exchanges of views. South Korea's envoy confirmed a "concrete proposal" was on the table, but refused to give details.
The summit follows North Korea's first nuclear test on 9 October this year. US envoy Christopher Hill gave little away as talks entered their third day.
"At this point I don't want to say I am pessimistic or optimistic. I just don't know where we are going to end up or when we are going to end up," Mr Hill said. "At this point I don't want to say I am pessimistic or optimistic. I just don't know where we are going to end up or when we are going to end up," he said.
He described his meeting with his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye-gwan on Tuesday as business-like, with some "healthy exchange of views".
Treasury officials from both nations also met on Tuesday to discuss Pyongyang's demands that the US lift financial sanctions imposed last year. They were due to meet again on Wednesday.
The summit talks - which also involves China, South Korea, Japan and Russia - stalled 13 months ago after North Korea walked out in protest at the sanctions.
Pyongyang only agreed to return to the table after conducting its first nuclear test on 9 October this year.
Disarmament proposal
South Korea's top negotiator, Chun Yung-woo confirmed the US had put forward a "formal, detailed and concrete proposal" to North Korea.
He did not elaborate on the details, but warned that both sides were still far apart.
"There has not been much narrowing of differences, but all the parties have laid the cards on the table and are discussing their priorities," he said.
N KOREA NUCLEAR PROGRAMME Believed to have 'handful' of nuclear weaponsBut not thought to have any small enough to put in a missileCould try dropping from plane, though world watching closely Low hopes for talks Text of September 2005 deal Talks absorb regional pressN KOREA NUCLEAR PROGRAMME Believed to have 'handful' of nuclear weaponsBut not thought to have any small enough to put in a missileCould try dropping from plane, though world watching closely Low hopes for talks Text of September 2005 deal Talks absorb regional press
No end date has been set for the six-nation talks, which began on Monday, but Mr Hill said that delegates - from China, Japan, Russia, the US and the two Koreas - should start working on a draft agreement if they hope to make any progress. The US proposal outlines a process towards the North's eventual nuclear disarmament, say unnamed diplomats, according to Yonhap.
US treasury officials also met their North Korean counterparts on Tuesday to discuss US financial sanctions imposed a year ago - which Pyongyang demands to be lifted. Washington will give North Korea a written security guarantee - a pledge not to topple the regime by force - if it freezes its nuclear operations and allows UN inspectors to verify this, Yonhap reported.
The US wants to revive a deal reached in September 2005, under which Pyongyang agreed to abandon its nuclear programme in return for US security guarantees and aid. Large-scale food, energy and other economic aid will follow if the North opens all its nuclear-related programmes for international inspection.
Pyongyang insists it wants the US to lift its restrictions - imposed two months after the September deal - on a Macau-based bank, which holds $24m of the regime's money. The US came to the talks hoping to revive an agreement reached with North Korea in September 2005, offering a similar package of incentives.
The US blacklisted the bank in November 2005, saying it was linked to alleged money-laundering and counterfeiting by Pyongyang. It also agreed to consider North Korea's demand that it lift its financial sanctions.
The move prompted Pyongyang to walk out of the talks, only agreeing to return after it had carried out a nuclear test on 9 October. The US blacklisted a Macau-based bank containing $24m of North Korea's money in September 2005, accusing it of involvement in money-laundering and counterfeiting.
Altered demands Daniel Glaser, the treasury official leading the discussions on the sanctions, appeared to rule out an imminent resolution, saying it "has to be a long-term process".
North Korea was in a defiant mood when it returned to the negotiating table on Monday. South Korea's Chun Yung-Woo said the six-party talks had been due to wrap up on Thursday, but would now continue through Friday because "substantive discussions" were being held.
In his opening statement, chief envoy Kim Kye-gwan said Pyongyang would not consider halting its nuclear programme unless both the US financial restrictions and UN sanctions - the latter imposed after its nuclear test - were lifted. Mr Hill has already said delegates should start working on a draft agreement if they hope to make any progress.
He also repeated North Korea's demand for a nuclear reactor to generate energy. Power play
And he said Pyongyang was unconcerned that other countries did not accept its newly demonstrated nuclear status. A South Korean parliamentary report on Tuesday suggested that divisions in North Korea over the successor to leader Kim Jong-il lay behind October's nuclear test.
Despite the talking, no-one holds out much hope for any kind of breakthrough, the BBC's James Reynolds in Beijing says.
Leadership question
Meanwhile, a South Korean parliamentary report has suggested that divisions in North Korea over the successor to leader Kim Jong-il lay behind October's nuclear test.
Kim Jong-il agreed to the test to win military support for the eventual transfer of power to one of his sons, the report by the National Assembly's Intelligence Committee said.Kim Jong-il agreed to the test to win military support for the eventual transfer of power to one of his sons, the report by the National Assembly's Intelligence Committee said.
"The fundamental task that North Korea has to address right now is not to overcome economic difficulties or establish diplomatic relations or a peace treaty with the US," the report said."The fundamental task that North Korea has to address right now is not to overcome economic difficulties or establish diplomatic relations or a peace treaty with the US," the report said.
Its priority is "to stabilise the North's system through completing the designing" of the next leadership, it said.Its priority is "to stabilise the North's system through completing the designing" of the next leadership, it said.
The report also said the 64-year-old leader may begin the slow transfer of power to his son as early as next year. It did not say which of his three known sons it might be.The report also said the 64-year-old leader may begin the slow transfer of power to his son as early as next year. It did not say which of his three known sons it might be.