North Korea nuclear talks seek to narrow distrust

CHINA: Nuclear disarmament negotiators sat down for more sparring with North Korea on Tuesday, with talks seeking to narrow distrust and settle rules allowing inspectors to probe the North's atomic activities.

North Korea partly disabled its Yongbyon nuclear facility this year in a disarmament-for-aid deal, but the six-party talks have so far failed to agree on a protocol to check the North's declaration of nuclear activities and move disarmament forward. Progress at the negotiations in Beijing would be a diplomatic trophy for outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush, weeks before he gives way to President-elect Barack Obama.

"To complete the verification protocol is very important," the chief U.S. negotiator, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, told reporters before heading into the second day of talks on Tuesday.

But he and other envoys have been wary of fanning hopes of a verification deal after years of stop-start negotiations. Analysts believe Pyongyang will tread water, waiting to test the intentions of Obama. "The key issue really is how much control over its nuclear plans North Korea is willing to give away," said Zhang Liangui, an expert on the issue at the Central Party School in Beijing, a top Communist Party think tank.

"I don't think the United States' bottom line on verification will change under President Obama, so the key is North Korea's bottom line.... North Korea doesn't want to give away an inch on this without making it a hard-won deal." The talks bring together North and South Korea, China, the United States, Japan and Russia.

Further complicating the talks are sour relations between North and South Korea, and a feud between Pyongyang and Tokyo over the kidnapping of Japanese nationals decades ago. The North has said it will not recognise Japan's role in the talks.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao urged the negotiators to exercise "patience and wisdom" as they pore over a potential protocol document drafted by his government.

Beijing, Tuesday, Reuters