December 21, 2006
U.S. Negotiator Notes an Improved Tone in Talks on North Korea
By JOSEPH KAHN
BEIJING, Dec. 20 — The chief American negotiator at talks to address North Korea’s nuclear program said Wednesday that the parties could reach a new agreement on rolling back North Korea’s bomb-making effort this week, but the prospects for a meaningful breakthrough remained uncertain.
The chief negotiator, Christopher R. Hill, told reporters that the United States, North Korea and the four other countries participating in the Chinese-sponsored talks had begun discussing details of how to carry out a 2005 draft agreement on ending North Korea’s nuclear program. He said the tenor of the often tortuous discussions had improved.
“The discussions for us have been very useful,” said Mr. Hill, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs. “Certainly we are talking about much more than just agreeing on things on paper. We’re discussing actual developments on the ground, and for that reason these discussions are not easy.”
The negotiations are part of a series of talks sponsored by China that have continued for more than three years and have failed to make tangible progress in slowing North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
On Oct. 9, North Korea exploded a nuclear device for the first time, prompting the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions. After a frenzied round of Chinese diplomacy, North Korea agreed to return to the six-nation talks for the first time in more than a year.
The talks opened on an unpromising note Monday, when the senior North Korean negotiator, Kim Kye-gwan, declared that as a new nuclear power North Korea would engage only in “arms control” negotiations, implying that it had no intention of eliminating its nuclear program.
But during a series of one-on-one sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday, North Korea’s attitude turned more pragmatic, Asian diplomats participating in the talks said, adding that concrete proposals for freezing North Korea’s weapons program on the way to a broader accord were under active discussion.
Many analysts say that North Korea is not likely to give up its quest to become a full nuclear power and that any talks are merely a stalling tactic or an attempt to foster good will from China, its main aid supplier.
Others say that North Korea may at some point prove willing to make concessions on its nuclear program in exchange for a big aid program to bail out its closed, ailing economy.
Mr. Hill said he was pleasantly surprised that the talks had moved beyond posturing, and he raised the possibility that they could produce an agreement before the end of the current round this week.
“To be frank, Monday was kind of a difficult day, and the idea that I’d still be here Wednesday night telling you it was useful to continue — I frankly didn’t think I would be saying that,” he said.
He said China, as the host and mediator, had begun drafting the text of an accord that would commit the parties to concrete steps to carry out a vaguely worded 2005 agreement.
In September 2005, North Korea agreed to end its nuclear weapons program in exchange for security guarantees, diplomatic recognition and economic and energy aid from its neighbors and the United States.
The 2005 accord, though hailed as a breakthrough at the time, collapsed almost immediately after it was reached. North Korea publicly renounced the text.
“The whole purpose is to take the September agreement and start getting it implemented,” Mr. Hill said of the current talks.