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N Korea talks enter crucial day N Korea talks enter crucial phase
(about 3 hours later)
Delegates at six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programme have begun discussing a draft agreement on their second day of negotiation. Delegates at six-party talks in Beijing have begun a second day of negotiations on North Korea's nuclear programme.
On a positive first day, Chinese officials drafted an outline plan after Pyongyang agreed on initial steps towards disarmament. They are discussing a draft agreement which reportedly calls on Pyongyang to shut down its nuclear facilities in the next two months, in exchange for aid.
South Korean delegate Chun Yung-woo said the Chinese draft offered a good start for discussions. South Korean delegate Chun Yung-woo said the draft offered a good start for discussions.
The two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the US are attending the talks. South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the US are hoping to persuade the North to give up its nuclear programme.
The US wants North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons programme, but Pyongyang wants sanctions lifted. 'A long day'
Trade and financial sanctions against North Korea were tightened after it carried out a nuclear weapons test in October. On a positive first day, Chinese officials drafted their outline plan after Pyongyang agreed to take initial steps towards disarmament.
Delegates want to revive a September 2005 agreement under which the North would agree to end its nuclear programme in return for aid and security guarantees. 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 class="" href="/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6338941.stm">Food shortage is key class="" href="/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4259176.stm">Text of September 2005 deal The one-page plan reportedly involves shutting down Pyongyang's plutonium-producing reactor at Yongbyon within two months, and the return of international inspectors, in exchange for deliveries of fuel oil.
Desire for progress
Reports say the draft plan involves shutting down Pyongyang's plutonium-producing reactor within two months and the return of international inspectors, in exchange for deliveries of fuel oil.
The chief US envoy to the talks, Christopher Hill, said he hoped a joint statement could be achieved.The chief US envoy to the talks, Christopher Hill, said he hoped a joint statement could be achieved.
"The delegations are coalescing around some of the themes that we believe should be the basis for a first step," he said."The delegations are coalescing around some of the themes that we believe should be the basis for a first step," he said.
"We think if we can get this first good step it will give us some momentum to get to the next step and the step after that." "We've gone 18 months without anything, that is why these negotiations are so important."
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 class="" href="/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6338941.stm">Food shortage is key class="" href="/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4259176.stm">Text of September 2005 deal And Chun Yung-woo, South Korea's representative, said the key phase of the talks would come on Friday. But he warned that all sides needed to agree on every word and every comma.
Speaking to a Senate committee in Washington, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice welcomed the new round of talks. "It will be a long day," he told reporters on Friday morning.
"I think we are cautiously optimistic that there may be some movement forward," she said. But whatever progress is made, says the BBC's James Reynolds in Beijing, the fact that the six parties are even considering a draft agreement will be seen by many as a step forward.
"However, I don't count my chickens before they hatch." It is certainly a change from the last round of talks held in December, in which no progress was made at all, our correspondent says.
In Beijing the North Korean envoy, Mr Kim, said there remained important differences with the US. Optimism
"The judgement [for the talks] should be based on whether the United States will come forward and abandon its hostile policy against us and co-exist peacefully," he said. Part of the reason for the renewed optimism, after years of stop-start negotiations, is the progress made at recent talks between the US and North Korea in Berlin.
Food shortage Washington is reportedly showing an increased willingness to sit down and discuss North Korea's demands to lift financial sanctions.
Part of the reason for analysts' optimism is the reported progress at recent talks between the US and North Korea in Berlin. Meanwhile, North Korean officials recently told visiting US delegates that Pyongyang would take the first steps to disband its nuclear programme in return for 500,000 metric tons of fuel oil and other benefits.
Reports that the North is enduring a winter food crisis have emerged in recent weeks, a fact which is thought to have changed the dynamics in the run-up to the talks.Reports that the North is enduring a winter food crisis have emerged in recent weeks, a fact which is thought to have changed the dynamics in the run-up to the talks.
Washington has reportedly shown a willingness to sit down and discuss North Korea's demands to lift financial sanctions.
Meanwhile, North Korea reportedly recently told visiting US officials it would take the first steps to disband its nuclear programme in return for 500,000 metric tons of fuel oil and other benefits.