N.Korea reaches 'a certain agreement' with US

SOUTH KOREA: Talks between North Korean and U.S. chief nuclear envoys in Berlin this week reached "a certain agreement", the North's Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Friday, praising the 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 with no word there of a breakthrough on the communist state's nuclear weapons programme.

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

But he made particular mention of the bilateral talks that the North has long sought but Washington has steadfastly avoided.

"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.

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 Oct. 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."

SEOUL, Friday, Reuters