US envoy says N. Korea nuke talks end in stalemate

[December 11, 2008]  BEIJING (AP) -- Four days of international talks on ending North Korea's nuclear program closed Thursday without bridging a dispute over how monitors would verify the country's past atomic activities, a U.S. envoy said.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said North Korea would not agree to proposals on verification made by the other countries involved in the talks.

"There was a lot of agreement among a majority of the delegations there, but ultimately (North Korea) was not ready to reach a verification protocol with all the standards that are required," Hill said.

North Korea is refusing to allow outside inspectors to take samples at its main nuclear complex at Yongbyon -- a crucial method of checking whether it has been truthful in its accounting of its nuclear programs.

The talks involving the U.S., the two Koreas, Japan, Russia and host China began Monday, but an impasse remained over a verification process acceptable to all parties.

"(The U.S. and Russia) have a lot of familiarity on what these things look like and what the standard should be. So we tried to acquaint (North Korea) with these standards but ultimately couldn't get it done in this round," Hill said.

No date was set for a new round of negotiations.

"I'm sure we could have but we did not try and set one. I think the issue is that we need to overcome some of the differences that stand between us and a finished protocol," Hill said, without elaborating on the differences.

Chinese envoy Wu Dawei, the chairman of the talks, said the six countries "evaluated progress made towards agreement on terms for verification."

He said the nations would welcome assistance from the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Envoys said the North Koreans appeared unwilling to work with a Chinese proposal on verification. No details of the proposal have been released but delegates said it includes sections on sampling and visits to nuclear sites.

The six-nation talks have taken place intermittently since 2003. In 2006, North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test. It agreed to a disarmament-for-aid pact in 2007, but the process stalled in August amid the verification standoff.

This week's talks were also aimed at setting a schedule for the delivery of the remaining fuel oil aid to the impoverished country and determining a timetable for disabling its nuclear facilities.

North Korea submitted an inventory of its past activities in June. U.S. officials said it agreed previously to allow experts to take samples and conduct forensic tests at all of its declared nuclear facilities and undeclared sites.

But North Korea says it agreed only to let nuclear inspectors visit its main atomic complex in Yongbyon, view related documents and interview scientists -- not take samples.

[Associated Press; By AUDRA ANG]

Associated Press writers Gillian Wong and Kwang-tae Kim contributed to this report.

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