AFP
Friday, January 19, 2007

US negotiator Christopher Hill said Friday he expected six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear program to resume soon but denied any agreement was reached in discussions this week with the regime.

A North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said three days of talks between Hill and his Pyongyang opposite number Kim Kye-Gwan in Berlin had produced a "certain agreement."

The spokesman did not elaborate, but Hill quickly dampened any hopes of an unexpected breakthrough.

"I'm sorry, I'm not really sure what he's referring to," he told reporters when asked about the statement on his arrival in South Korea, first stop of a regional tour aimed at getting full-scale negotiations underway again.

Hill said he expects those discussions to resume before the Lunar New Year holiday, which starts in Korea on February 17.

The US envoy was upbeat about his discussions in Berlin with Kim, including one session which lasted six hours.

While he denied an agreement was reached, he said the tone of the reporting by North Korea's official media was encouraging in itself.

The foreign ministry spokesman, quoted by the North's state Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), said the Berlin talks took place "in a positive and sincere atmosphere and a certain agreement was reached there."

No details were given.

"We paid attention to the direct dialogue held by the DPRK (North Korea) and the US in a bid to settle knotty problems in resolving the nuclear issue," the spokesman added.

Hill stressed that negotiations should take place at the six-nation forum, which began in 2003 and is aimed at persuading the reclusive communist country to scrap its nuclear programme in return for economic and energy benefits and security guarantees.

"But we've always felt it useful to have discussions between rounds of six-party talks," he added.

"Certainly the discussions with the DPRK (in Berlin), I would say, were very useful and what we now have to do is to see how those discussions can be folded into the six-party process, whether those discussions can help lead to some progress in Beijing."

He added: "We had very useful discussions and I think the positive tone of the KCNA statement reflects that.

"I am pleased to see that KCNA, which is not always positive about everything, actually felt that those discussions were also useful and positive.

"I hope we kind of pick up the pace in the next session."

After spending 24 hours here, Hill will travel Saturday to Tokyo to meet with counterpart Kenichiro Sasae and then to Beijing for talks with its lead negotiator Wu Dawei late Sunday.

Along with the United States and Russia, they are the countries involved in the negotiations with the North.

The talks were suspended in late 2005 after the North walked out in protest at US financial sanctions imposed on a Macau bank accused of illicit dealings on behalf of Pyongyang.

They resumed last month -- after North Korea carried out its first nuclear test on October 9 -- but made no apparent progress.

The North insisted that the sanctions be lifted before it discusses nuclear disarmament. The United States agreed to hold parallel discussions on the two issues, and a first round took place on the sidelines of the main negotiations in Beijing in December.

Hill said a tentative date has been set for the next financial round. "I think we are actually working on the location of those talks so I would assume those negotiations would go forward."

Asked whether the six-party process could resume before Lunar New Year, he replied: "Again it's up to the Chinese (who host the six-nation talks) but I would think we'll have a six-party meeting pretty soon.

"I would hope that would be before that (New Year)."

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