The US stood its ground today as a new round of six-party talks on North Korea began, saying the reclusive country had to abandon its nuclear weapons programme before it could win any energy aid.
Washington and Pyongyang are sparring over when the North should open up to disarmament inspectors and whether in return it would receive rewards including a new light-water nuclear reactor for atomic energy.
In Washington, US President George W. Bush reaffirmed concerns about North Korea's human rights record, but urged patience at the talks and said the main goal was ending the North's nuclear weapons ambitions.
Chief US negotiator Christopher Hill restated Washington's position today in Beijing ahead of the opening session.
"Our delegation has made very clear that first they have got to disarm, create a nuclear-free Korean peninsula, and once they are back in the NPT (Non-proliferation Treaty), with IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) safeguards, at an appropriate time we will have discussions on the subject of a light-water reactor," he told reporters.
South Korea, China, Japan and Russia are also taking part in the talks, intended to flesh out a basic accord struck in the last round in September, but their success hinges on overcoming distrust between the US and North Korea.
A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday Mr Bush's reference last weekend to a tyrant in the North was a "blatant violation of the spirit of the joint statement of the six-party talks".
"It deprives us of any trust in the negotiators of the US side to the six-party talks," North Korea's KCNA news agency quoted the spokesman as saying. But Japanese envoy Kenichiro Sasae said the North was still committed to the talks.
Agencies