The 11th day of the six-nation North Korean nuclear disarmament talks ended Friday without agreement as North Korea says it will not give up all its nuclear programs. Negotiators say it looks likely the talks will end without significant progress.
Negotiators Friday failed to overcome what has emerged as the chief obstacle to a final agreement: North Korea's refusal to give up all of its nuclear programs.
Thursday, the North Korean envoy, Kim Kye Gwan, told reporters the government would not abandon the right to pursue peaceful nuclear activities.
He says North Korea is not a defeated nation and should be able to conduct peaceful nuclear activities.
But U.S. envoy Christopher Hill said Friday this was not an option, arguing North Korea has already proven its willingness to use supposedly non-military facilities to produce nuclear weapons.
"This is one of the issues we have to, have to resolve, e have a state that has taken research reactors and turned them into bomb making reactors and I think we all have to bear that in mind. So we have to be very careful about what were talking about," said Mr. Hill.
Mr. Hill said he will meet with the Chinese delegation Saturday morning followed by more talks with the North Korean envoy. Host China is working to find common ground and has proposed four
draft statements on what has been agreed. North Korea is reportedly the only country at the talks not to accept the draft and delegates say time is running out.
Mr. Hill told reporters Friday there have been discussions regarding a possible recess, allowing the delegations to head back to their capitals for consultation.
This is the 4th round of six-nation talks since 2003. Three previous rounds were much shorter in duration and ended without significant progress.