Envoys to the six-party talks on Saturday struggled to decide on
the first steps toward denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, but no
agreement was reached.
The negotiations, which entered the third day as chief envoys
discussed specifics on the initial steps required to implement a
2005 statement, may still take "another day or two" to overcome
difficulties, according to the Chief US negotiator Christopher
Hill.
"There is definitely an issue preventing us from sealing the
deal right now", Hill said, without further elaborating, adding
that in fact he had some really good bilateral and multilateral
discussions.
"If we can get closer on these issues, we can solve the overall
problems and get a set of initial actions", Hill told reporters
after he returned to the hotel late Saturday night.
Qin Gang, spokesman for the Chinese delegation, told a press
conference on Saturday evening that differences were narrowed among
the six parties.
"The disagreement on some specific items won't affect the
concerned parties to reach the consensus", Qin noted.
According to Qin, the discussion centered on the economic and
energy cooperation with North Korea on Saturday and the differences
on the issue "still remain large", Qin said.
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China still expects some positive outcomes from the talks despite
difficulties during the process of building consensus, Qin
said.
"No resolution has been reached so far," Japanese negotiator
Kenichiro Sasae said at the end of Saturday's talks.
The situation is still "tough" at the six-party talks as the
direction for a solution cannot be seen on some questions, Sasae
said.
The major stumbling block remained on North Korea's
denuclearization steps and other parties' compensation
measures.
The draft agreement was circulated to the delegates Thursday
night, a document that could see envoys take the first steps
towards denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
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All parties have been working on revising the document on
Saturday.
The revisions would cover the issues of how working groups
operate, and how to provide aid to the North Korea, provided
consensus is reached, Russian representative Alexander Losyukov
said Saturday morning.
"The biggest obstacle to reaching a joint statement remains on
the issue of the economic aid to the North Korea," said Losyukov
after he finished bilateral consultation with other parties.
He said that no final figures on the economic aid to North Korea
were decided yet, declining to reveal North Korea's demand for the
economic aid but stressing all the other issues could be resolved
under the six-party framework.
The delegation from China, host to the six-party talks since the
mechanism began in 2003, held separate one-on-one consultations
with all the other five parties on Saturday in order to coordinate
their differences, sources with the press center of the talks
said.
There have been more than 10 one-on-one meetings and
multilateral talks held on Saturday, according to the press
center.
Reports said the draft agreement proposed halting within two
months work at nuclear sites in North Korea, including the Yongbyon
reactor, and supplying Pyongyang with alternative energy
sources.
Later Saturday, an official of South Korea said on condition of
anonymity that Saturday's talks were active and positive.
After a 48-day recess, the negotiators gathered again in Beijing
on Thursday to explore the first steps in implementing the 2005
statement.
In the joint statement, North Korea agreed to abandon its
nuclear program in exchange for economic aid and security
guarantees.
(Xinhua News Agency February 10, 2007)
