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Few expect progress with Pyongyang

Russia expressed cautious optimism yesterday ahead of six-party talks in China on North Korea's nuclear crisis, saying it would work to ensure everyone stays at the table.

But emotional protests in Japan and South Korea for and against North Korea's reclusive communist regime illustrated the chasm negotiators face as they gather for three days of talks aimed at ending the 10-month standoff.

Few expect a breakthrough, but Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said as he landed in Beijing he was "discreetly optimistic" about ensuring all sides remain committed to negotiations, China's official Xinhua news agency said.

"We will strive to propel the talks to go on," Losyukov, who is heading the Russian delegation to the talks, was quoted as saying.

Diplomats from the two Koreas, the US, China, Japan and Russia meet at the exclusive Diaoyutai state guest house from tomorrow to Friday.

US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly was due in Beijing yesterday evening, while the South Korean and Japanese negotiators were expected in the afternoon.

Pyongyang's delegation, headed by deputy foreign minister Kim Yong-il, was set to arrive today.

All sides were expected to lay out their positions, but hopes of a breakthrough remained tempered by the failure of negotiations in April between the US, North Korea and China, and Pyongyang's penchant for brinkmanship.

"It's better to talk than not to talk," said a foreign diplomat in Beijing with knowledge of preparations for the talks.

"North Korea will always put take a tough stand -- we don't expect anything less," he said. "And that's one reason why we don't have high expectations of concrete results."

The US said in October North Korea had admitted to a clandestine program to enrich uranium to build nuclear weapons, which violated its agreements with the US and international commitments.

Since then, Pyongyang has thrown out UN nuclear inspectors, become the first state to pull out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and restarted its Yongbyon nuclear plant, sparking fears it may have reprocessed spent fuel rods there into plutonium for weapons.

Russia's Interfax news agency earlier quoted diplomatic sources as saying that no quick breakthrough should be expected and noted the previous North Korean nuclear crisis in 1993 to 1994 took nearly 18 months of negotiations to resolve.

Meanwhile, Japan began inspecting a North Korean ferry suspected of smuggling weapons parts and illicit funds for Pyongyang after it glided into port yesterday following a seven-month hiatus and was met by hundreds of police and protesters swarming the waterfront.

The white-hulled Mangyongbong-92, with North Korea's red star emblazoned on its funnel, has long been a focus of suspicion during its regular visits to the northern Japanese port of Niigata. But tensions have peaked amid new allegations the boat is a conduit for communist espionage.

There were no clashes on the pier between Korean residents welcoming the passenger ferry and opponents, including right-wing extremists.

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