Rice insists new N Korea talks show progress

BEIJING/SEOUL - The United States and Japan insisted yesterday that six-party talks on reclusive North Korea's nuclear weapons programme show progress this time round, with a hopeful South Korea saying it expected results.

North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, said it agreed to return to the talks after "the US side clarified its official stand to recognise the DPRK as a sovereign state, not to invade it and hold bilateral talks within the framework of the six-party talks".

But US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, meeting Chinese leaders in Beijing, said sitting down to talks after a break of more than a year was just a first step.

"The real issue now is to make progress," she said.

She told Fox Television News in an interview that Pyongyang had a "high bar" to pass when the talks resume in the week of July 25 and the United States and its partners "shouldn't spend too much time celebrating" because there was much hard work ahead.

It is most likely the talks will be held in Beijing, where the first three rounds of talks were staged.

Reviving the talks has become more urgent because of concerns North Korea has expanded its nuclear capabilities to eight or more weapons, up from one or two weapons when President George W. Bush came to office.

Rice told a news conference she did not know if China or South Korea had offered any special new inducements to lure Pyongyang back to talks which will involve the two Koreas, China, the United States, Japan and Russia.

US officials have insisted they did not offer any new incentives but China, in particular, has played a key role in providing the impoverished North with additional food and energy assistance. Seoul said on Sunday North Korea had asked for 500,000 tonnes of rice from the South at separate economic talks.

North Korea's official news agency quoted a foreign ministry spokesman as saying Pyongyang would do its utmost to make progress.

"They believed that if they didn't come back to the table soon, actions would be taken," said Derek Mitchell, a Korea expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington.

"OUTPOST OF TYRANNY"

North Korea said in a statement issued on Saturday night that it interpreted recent US statements as a retraction of Rice's description of the North as an "outpost of tyranny". Pyongyang cited the comment as evidence of America's hostile policy and cited it as a reason for not returning to the talks earlier.

Rice suggested she had not retracted the comment, telling reporters: "Everyone knows our views of the North Korean regime."

Bush once referred to North Korea as being part of an "axis of evil" along with Iran and pre-war Iraq.

But Rice repeated US assurances that the United States sees the North as a sovereign state that Washington has no intention of invading.

Asked if the United States would establish diplomatic relations with Pyongyang, Rice was vague. "The issue now is for North Korea to make the strategic decision to give up its nuclear weapons programmes," she told the news conference.

"Let's do that and we will see what else comes. But the nuclear programme has to be dealt with."

Rice met Chinese President Hu Jintao, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, Premier Wen Jiabao and State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan.

Li said he was pleased "with concerted efforts" by all sides. "Let us continue to work together to try and achieve our shared goal, that is, a Korean peninsula that's free of nuclear weapons."

Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hatsuhisa Takashima said progress must be made after three rounds of inconclusive talks.

"Resumption is not the aim of the six-party talks," he said in a statement. "What is vital is to make substantial progress. From that perspective, we hope that North Korea would show a sincere and constructive attitude towards resolving the issues."

South Korea was more optimistic.

"When the talks are held, the countries participating in the six-party talks should make substantive progress for the resolution of the North Korean nuclear problem through serious and concerted negotiations," the South Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

- REUTERS