North Korea nuclear crisis talks closed yesterday with what the six nations had predicted to be the best possible outcome -- agreement to meet again -- but that didn't stop Pyongyang from taking a parting swipe at the US.
Frustrations had bubbled to the surface during the three days of meetings at a secluded state guesthouse in Beijing amid signs Pyongyang had told its US foes it would prove its nuclear credentials by carrying out a test.
The only concrete result came when host China said all six countries -- the two Koreas, Japan, Russia, the US and China -- were in agreement to work towards a Korean Peninsula free of nuclear arms and would meet again within two months.
It set no place or date and predicted future talks to end a nuclear standoff that erupted 10 months ago would not be easy.
"The talks saw progress and also differences, but all parties thought the talks were beneficial," Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi (王毅) told a closing ceremony at which he read out a six-point agreement.
Underscoring the urgency of the standoff, head of the UN nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei said North Korea had been guilty of nuclear "blackmail" and could not be trusted.
North Korea posed the world's biggest nuclear threat, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency told the BBC.
The crisis may require many more rounds of talks because the US, which says Pyongyang may already have one or two nuclear weapons, is looking for a commitment that North Korea will scrap its program before making any concessions.
However, the US side said it hoped to progress to gradual establishment of diplomatic ties with North Korea -- a proposal first made 10 years ago but never fulfilled, Wang said.
North Korea wants security guarantees before dismantling.
"Even though future talks will not be smooth sailing, so long as all parties make efforts we can find the path to a peaceful resolution," Wang was quoted by Xinhua as saying.
Under the six-point agreement, no party would aggravate the situation while talks proceeded and all recognized the need to address North Korea's security concerns, Wang said.
North Korean bluster and US silence -- so far -- may not augur a lack of future progress.
"This result is the best that could have been reached -- to keep the issue on the track of dialogue," said Jin Canrong, international relations expert at Beijing's People's University.
"But in future, the dialogue must gradually hammer out some concrete results. Otherwise, if there is no progress over a long period it may break away from the track of dialogue," he said.
Pyongyang did not hesitate to use tested tactics of bluster, a move that in the past has heralded a softening of position.
"In the final analysis, the US would move only after the DPRK [North Korea] is completely disarmed," North Korea's official KCNA news agency quoted delegate Kim Yong-il as saying.
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