N. Korea nuke talks end without deal

By BO-MI LIM, Associated Press Writer
10 minutes ago

The first talks on North Korea's nuclear program since the communist nation tested an atomic device ended Friday without an agreement on disarmament or a date for further negotiations.

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the U.S. envoy to the talks, said negotiations would resume in "weeks, not months."

During five days of meetings in Beijing, negotiators said Pyongyang refused to talk about its nuclear weapons program, and instead stuck to its demand that the U.S. remove financial restrictions it has imposed on the regime.

Hill said it appeared North Korea had not given its negotiators any authority to discuss anything but the financial issue.

"Clearly, negotiators ought to come armed with some instructions to negotiate," he said Friday evening.

Hill insisted the talks would not be left in limbo for another 13 months, and that Washington remained committed to resolving the issue in the six-nation format.

"We have to make progress — we should have made that progress this week," he said.

North Korea's envoy said the communist nation would bolster its atomic arsenal in response to U.S. pressure.

"The U.S. is taking a tactic of both dialogue and pressure, and carrots and sticks," Kim Kye Gwan told reporters. "We are responding with dialogue and a shield, and by a shield we are saying we will further improve our deterrent."

After five days of negotiations, the delegates merely reaffirmed a September 2005 joint statement — the only one ever reached at the talks — in which the North pledged to disarm in exchange for security guarantees and aid, Chinese envoy Wu Dawei said.

The North had ended its 13-month boycott of the talks — which include China, Japan, Russia and South Korea — after the U.S. agreed to discuss its campaign to isolate the communist nation from the international financial system for alleged financial crimes, including counterfeiting and money laundering.

Separate talks this week on that issue in Beijing failed to bridge differences between the sides.

"We have requested the U.S. to release the sanctions first and then go into a discussion on substantive issues for the implementation" of the September 2005 agreement, Kim said.

"How can (North Korea) go into such an important discussion on halting the nuclear facilities and also giving up the deterrent which is aimed at safeguarding our sovereignty under such pressure from the United States?" Kim asked.

Even when it takes up the nuclear issue, Kim said the North would not yet talk about dismantling the bombs it has already made. But he promised the North would not launch a nuclear attack or sell its technology.

"Since we are already a proud nuclear state, we have already announced that we will not threaten other countries with nuclear (weapons) and fully live up to our responsibility of preventing proliferation," Kim said.

China's Wu said the six countries agreed to meet again "at the earliest opportunity."

"North Korea lost a very important opportunity," said Japanese envoy Kenichiro Sasae. "We find the North Korean attitude extremely regrettable."

Sasae said Pyongyang risked further isolation from the international community if it did not change its stance.

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Associated Press reporters Audra Ang, Burt Herman and Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report.