Talks about North Korea conflict to continue soon


dpa German Press Agency
Published: Friday January 19, 2007

Seoul- The six-party talks to end North Korea's nuclear programme were to be continued soon, US chief negotiator Christopher Hill said in Seoul Friday. Hill insisted that the six-party talks were the proper venue for talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons.

He had earlier denied a North Korean report that the two countries had reached an agreement at the three-day, one-on-one talks over Pyongyang's nuclear programme in Berlin.

North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) had reported Friday that North Korea had reached a "certain agreement" with the United States, sourcing a spokesman.

Hill, upon arrival in Seoul Friday, said he was not sure what the spokesman was referring to.

"I want to emphasize once again that the negotiations for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula take place in the six-party talks," he told reporters at South Korea's Inchon International Airport.

North Korea's Foreign Ministry said that the January 16-18 talks were held in a "positive and sincere atmosphere" in an attempt to "settle knotty problems in resolving the nuclear issue."

In Seoul, Hill reiterated that the meetings in Berlin were "very useful" and was hopeful that they would lead to an agreement in the six-party process.

The Berlin meeting marks the first time that US and North Korean envoys have met alone, away from Beijing, since the negotiations on Pyongyang's nuclear programme began in 2003.

A meeting of the six countries involved in negotiations, North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia, and the United States, made little progress in December.

Hill was also hopeful that the next round of six-party talks would be held "pretty soon," perhaps prior to the Lunar New Year holiday, February 17-19.

Tensions have worsened since North Korea's test of a nuclear weapon last year and the Japanese and US foreign ministers have warned tougher sanctions against North Korea would have to be considered, if the hardline country conducts a further test.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency