North Korea nuclear talks hang in the balance

BEIJING - Talks aimed at ending the crisis over North Korea's nuclear programmes hung in the balance on Wednesday, with the six parties deadlocked after more than a week and some delegates talking openly of breakdown.

Negotiators from the two Koreas, the United States, Russia, Japan and host China have been at the table for a record eight days and remain at loggerheads on the issue of when Pyongyang should dismantle its programmes -- before, or after, it receives US security guarantees and aid.

The fourth round of talks appeared destined to end without a formal joint statement. After days of wrangling over China-proposed drafts, the US delegation was questioning whether the parties should agree to disagree or return to their capitals with the latest draft text for consultations.

On the eve of the ninth day of talks, US chief negotiator Christopher Hill said: "I think the issue is how one winds this up, that is, does it wind up with an agreement, does it wind up with parties saying well, look, we have to do some more substantial consultations in capitals, or does it wind up in a flat-out disagreement."

Hill's view followed comments from North Korean officials, reported by Interfax, that if no agreement was reached on Wednesday the talks could be considered a failure.

Intelligence experts estimate the North Koreans have stockpiled enough plutonium for up to nine nuclear weapons.

A BLAND STATEMENT?

The latest crisis erupted in October 2002 when US officials confronted the reclusive state with evidence it was violating international protocol by pursuing a clandestine uranium enrichment weapons programme.

The North Koreans, citing US hostility, responded by throwing out UN weapons inspectors, abandoning the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and restarting their mothballed reactor at Yongbyon.

The stakes rose in February, when Pyongyang announced it now had nuclear weapons and demanded aid, assurances and diplomatic recognition from Washington in return for scrapping them.

Four rounds of talks have been held since 2003. The latest has been the most promising in terms of an unprecedented level of contact between the United States and North Korean delegations and the length of debate over the joint statement.

Whether the parties can agree to some form of statement, however bland, before the talks break up, remain to be seen.

North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan, in his first public comments since the talks convened on June 26, told reporters Pyongyang's decision on whether to abandon its nuclear weapons programmes hinged on Washington.

He insisted that the United States end its nuclear threat to the North and work to establish trust.

Washington, which keeps more than 30,000 troops in South Korea, denies it poses any such threat. Reports said North Korea felt US military installations in Japan did so.

- REUTERS