Envoys hold talks on resuming nuclear negotiations

The top American, North Korean and Chinese nuclear negotiators met today, a US Embassy spokeswoman said, amid a diplomatic push to resume six-nation talks.

Officials have yet to determine an exact date for the next round of negotiations.

The China-hosted talks involve the United States, North Korea, Japan, South Korea and Russia, which has not sent an envoy to Beijing.

Kim said before the meetings got started that the timing of the next round of six-party talks on his country’s nuclear program “depends on the United States.”

“There are too many outstanding issues” and both parties should narrow their differences, Kim told reporters.

US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington that the main goal of the current meetings was to “make sure that everybody, at least, has a good, solid understanding of what might happen” when six-nation talks aimed at persuading the North to abandon its nuclear weapons reconvene.

“What Chris did was to start to provide information on how we might be able to define what is an effective round of the six-party talks that produces concrete results,” he said.

Kim’s trip to Beijing – a rare overseas visit – and the presence of other negotiators added to prospects of compromises to give new life to the talks.

“We hope all sides can grasp this opportunity and take a flexible, pragmatic and constructive approach in order to realise the early resumption of six-party talks,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a regular briefing.

An unannounced meeting between Hill and Kim last month in Beijing led to Pyongyang agreeing to return to the arms negotiations amid heightened tensions after the October 9 nuclear test.

Hill has also met with South Korea’s nuclear envoy, Chun Yung-woo, and Japan’s representative Kenichiro Sasae.

He was scheduled to travel to Seoul after leaving Beijing.