N. Korea Claims Nuke Agreement with US

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N.Korea says "agreement" with U.S. in nuclear talks
Fri Jan 19, 2007 12:22am ET


By Jack Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Friday that it had reached a "certain agreement" with the United States in talks earlier this week in Berlin, praising the rare direct dialogue between the two bitter foes.

U.S. envoy Christopher Hill and the North's Kim Kye-gwan ended three days of unprecedented discussions on Thursday in the German capital. But neither side in Berlin suggested there had been any breakthrough on the communist state's nuclear weapons program.

"The talks took place from January 16 to 18 in a positive and sincere atmosphere and a certain agreement was reached there," the North's Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by official KCNA news agency. He did not elaborate.



"We paid attention to the direct dialogue held by the DPRK and the U.S. in a bid to settle knotty problems in resolving the nuclear issue," he said, using the acronym for the North's official name.

But Hill, arriving in South Korea to brief officials in Seoul, appeared puzzled by the reference to a deal.

"I'm sorry, I'm not really sure what he's referring to," Hill told reporters, but added: "We had very useful discussions."

He said the next step would be incorporating the Berlin talks into the recently revived six-country negotiations. These aim to end impoverished North Korea's nuclear weapons program in exchange for financial support and security guarantees. Continued...

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"I want to emphasize once again that the negotiations for the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula take place at the six-party talks," Hill told reporters. "But we've always felt it useful to have discussions between rounds of six-party talks."

Hill said he hoped the next round of six-party talks would start before the February 18 Lunar New Year.

He also said there was a tentative date for talks on the U.S. financial crackdown against North Korea, but did not elaborate. South Korea's foreign minister said earlier he expected those talks -- between U.S. and North Korean financial officials -- would be next week in the United States.

"NOT BILATERAL"

In Washington, the White House denied the Berlin talks were bilateral discussions, which came amid speculation the North was preparing to detonate a second nuclear device. It conducted its first test on October 9, triggering U.N. sanctions.

"We have not had bilateral talks. What you had ... this week in Berlin were talks with Chris Hill and a North Korean representative as preparations for the six-party talks," White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters.

"This is not an instance of bilateral negotiations on the side," he added.

North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States participate in the talks, which began in 2003 and are aimed at persuading Pyongyang to scrap its nuclear ambitions. Continued...

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The last round of talks in December ended inconclusively.

State Department spokesman Tom Casey said in the Berlin talks Hill and Kim had exchanged views on a number of proposals made at the last six-way meeting in December. "We want to make sure that the (next) round is well prepared when it happens."

KCNA news agency issued on Thursday a joint statement by Pyongyang's government, political parties and organizations, demanding concessions by Washington, including the lifting of financial sanctions.

Washington accuses Pyongyang of using the international financial system for illicit activities, including drug trafficking. It has designated a bank in Macau as a money-laundering concern, effectively cutting off North Korea's main banking conduit to the outside world.