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N Korea seeks US compensation for nuclear freeze

North Korea yesterday demanded compensation from the US for freezing its nuclear-weapons programs as a first step in resolving a 15-month standoff, as preparations got underway for critical nuclear negotiations later this month in Beijing.

The comments came during high-level talks in Seoul between North and South Korean officials.

"The United States has not at all changed its demand that we first give up our nuclear programs," the North's chief negotiator Kim Ryong Song said, according to pool reports.

"What is important is resolving the issue through our proposal of simultaneous action."

A South Korean delegate at the Cabinet-level inter-Korean talks in Seoul said North Korea's offers didn't go far enough and asked North Korea to be more flexible.

"We urged North Korea to take a more progressive position on the dismantlement of the nuclear programs in general because it will be difficult to resolve the nuclear issue in the near future just with North Korea's offer of a freeze in exchange for compensation," delegate Shin Eon-sang said during a break in the meetings.

Outside the venue, Seoul's Shilla Hotel, about 20 South Korean protesters shouted slogans such as "Stop all South-North Korean exchanges until North Korea dismantles its nuclear programs!" One banner read: "We call on the international community to work to topple the dictatorship of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il."

About 50 police officers were on hand, but no clashes were reported.

Six-nations talks on settling the issue had faltered for months over disagreements on the ground rules for negotiations. A first round between the US, China, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas ended in August in Beijing without much progress.

North Korea agreed Tuesday to hold a second round Feb. 25.

North Korea has insisted it needs a nuclear "deterrent" against a possible US attack. But it has said it would suspend its nuclear programs as a first step in easing tensions if Washington lifts sanctions, resumes oil shipments and removes North Korea from its list of countries sponsoring terrorism.
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