NORTH KOREA:Six-country talks aimed at resolving the nuclear stand-off on the Korean peninsula ended in deadlock yesterday and the North Koreans warned they would steer clear of any further talks until Washington lifted financial restrictions.
The collapse of this fifth round of talks highlights the huge gulf between the US and North Korea, and the lack of trust has become worse since North Korea tested a nuclear device on October 9th. Delegates from the North Korean capital Pyongyang said the country would boost its arsenal of nuclear weapons as a response to what it sees as pressure from the US.
"The US is taking a tactic of both dialogue and pressure, and carrots and sticks. We are responding with dialogue and a shield. And by a shield, we are saying we will further improve our deterrent," said North Korean envoy Kim Kye Gwan.
The North had ended its 13-month boycott of the negotiations - which include China, Japan, Russia and South Korea - after Washington agreed to discuss its campaign to isolate the nation from the international financial system for alleged counterfeiting and money-laundering.
In the end the financial issue proved impossible to get beyond. North Korea has insisted that Washington lift financial restrictions it imposed on a Macao-based bank for allegedly laundering money and counterfeiting for North Korea, before talking about denuclearisation.
The talks were the first since the communist nation tested an atomic bomb, and separate talks on the financial issue were also held in Beijing, although they failed to make headway in bridging differences between the sides.
Five days of talks ended with a mere reaffirmation of a communique issued after talks in September last year in which the North pledged to disarm in exchange for security guarantees and aid.
"We have requested the US to release the sanctions first and then go into a discussion on substantive issues for the implementation" of the September 2005 agreement, Mr Kim said, describing North Korea as a "proud nuclear state".
During three years of the six-nation talks, the North has never taken any concrete steps to dismantle its nuclear programme, but it continues to operate its main reactor to create weapons-grade plutonium, has test-fired missiles and conducted its first atomic test.
US envoy Christopher Hill accused North Korea of diverting negotiations. "When the [ North] raises problems, one day it's financial issues, another day it's something they want but they know they can't have, another day it's something we said about them that hurt their feelings," he said.
"What they need to do is to get serious about the issue that made them such a problem . . . their nuclear activities," he said.
China, chairing the talks, said in a statement that the participants "agreed to recess, to report to capitals and to reconvene at the earliest opportunity", at the end of their five-day meeting.
Japan's chief delegate Kenichiro Sasae criticised North Korea over its insistence on bringing up the issue of US financial sanctions during the nuclear discussions.
"Unfortunately, we were not able to see any kind of concrete progress [ over the nuclear issue] because North Korea persisted with the financial issue, which is not related to the main topic," said Mr Sasae.