NORTH KOREA: There was frantic diplomatic activity to create some kind of consensus ahead of today's thorny six-nation talks to resolve a nuclear standoff on the Korean peninsula but neither the United States nor North Korea looked set for a speedy compromise.
The fresh round of high-level negotiations between the two Koreas, the United States, Russia, Japan and host China, which began today and will run until Saturday, will focus on a nuclear freeze, with inspection as a first step to dismantling weapons, a South Korean official said after preliminary meetings between diplomats before the talks.
"We believe there will be authoritative and substantive discussions on elements of a freeze and other issues at the plenary talks. The representatives of the countries agreed that nuclear dismantlement is the ultimate goal," he said.
South Korea has signalled its willingness to give hefty economic aid to its northern neighbour if the Stalinist state agrees to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
But despite the efforts of working groups before the talks in Beijing, the chance of a breakthrough looks thin.
Washington officials said everyone was waiting for the main talks before making any meaningful proposals.
"One consequence of holding working-group talks right before the plenary is that the North Koreans and others, for example, have said: 'We'll talk to you in the plenary'. So I mean it's just completely negated the purpose," one US official in Washington said.
The crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions has been going on since 2002, when Washington said North Korea was working on a secret programme to enrich uranium for weapons, violating an international agreement.
The US wants the isolated communist state, high on President Bush's list of "rogue states", to dismantle its nuclear programme in "a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner".
Washington has softened its hardline approach on aid somewhat, saying it would not oppose offers of help from other countries but only if North Korea abandons its nuclear plans.