Envoys to six-party negotiations on the North Korean nuclear crisis gathered in Beijing yesterday ahead of working-level talks aimed at finding ways to break the impasse, but chances of a breakthrough appeared slim.
Neither Pyongyang nor Washington, the two protagonists in the standoff over North Korea's nuclear programs, showed any sign of preparing to budge from their deeply entrenched positions during the inaugural talks to pave the way for higher-level meetings.
Some analysts said the George W. Bush administration had no intention of making compromises before presidential elections in November and that communist North Korea, sensing that, would stick to its guns.
US special envoy Joseph DeTrani was to consult with his counterparts from South Korea, Japan, China and Russia before the closed-door talks, which open today and are expected to last several days, an embassy spokeswoman said.
The nuclear crisis erupted in October 2002 when US officials said communist North Korea had disclosed it was working on a secret program to enrich uranium for weapons in violation of an international agreement.
Pyongyang then pulled out of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, expelled UN inspectors and took a plutonium plant out of mothballs.
North Korea wants compensation to give up its nuclear ambitions, with a deal for a freeze as a first step, while the US wants Pyongyang to agree to complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement.
"We have stated many times that the US will not provide rewards or inducements to North Korea for compliance with international obligations and commitments," the US spokeswoman said.
The working-level talks follow two inconclusive rounds of higher-level talks in February and last August in Beijing and precede a third round scheduled to take place by the end of June.
Observers say the goal is to start a more technical discussion at which the sides can clarify their positions.
"Right now, the issue is how to truly remove mutual mistrust," said Shen Jiru, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences of the positions of Washington and Pyongyang.
"But I'm afraid it won't be easy to resolve this problem in a short time... because both sides are always taking a zero-sum attitude," he said. "This in itself is a form of mistrust."
Kim Kwang-yong, of Hanyang University in Seoul, said North Korea was setting its sights on dealing with new negotiating partners after the November US elections.
"Clearly, North Korea thinks John Kerry is a figure that is easier to negotiate with," he said.
North Korea agreed to take part in the meeting after its reclusive leader, Kim Jong-il, made a rare visit to Beijing last month when he was quoted as telling Chinese leaders that North Korea would be patient, flexible and engaged in six-party talks.
But on Monday, the North made a trademark step of cranking up tough rhetoric before negotiations.
DOUBLE-MURDER CASE: The officer told the dispatcher he would check the locations of the callers, but instead headed to a pizzeria, remaining there for about an hour A New Jersey officer has been charged with misconduct after prosecutors said he did not quickly respond to and properly investigate reports of a shooting that turned out to be a double murder, instead allegedly stopping at an ATM and pizzeria. Franklin Township Police Sergeant Kevin Bollaro was the on-duty officer on the evening of Aug. 1, when police received 911 calls reporting gunshots and screaming in Pittstown, about 96km from Manhattan in central New Jersey, Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renee Robeson’s office said. However, rather than responding immediately, prosecutors said GPS data and surveillance video showed Bollaro drove about 3km
‘MOTHER’ OF THAILAND: In her glamorous heyday in the 1960s, former Thai queen Sirikit mingled with US presidents and superstars such as Elvis Presley The year-long funeral ceremony of former Thai queen Sirikit started yesterday, with grieving royalists set to salute the procession bringing her body to lie in state at Bangkok’s Grand Palace. Members of the royal family are venerated in Thailand, treated by many as semi-divine figures, and lavished with glowing media coverage and gold-adorned portraits hanging in public spaces and private homes nationwide. Sirikit, the mother of Thai King Vajiralongkorn and widow of the nation’s longest-reigning monarch, died late on Friday at the age of 93. Black-and-white tributes to the royal matriarch are being beamed onto towering digital advertizing billboards, on
Tens of thousands of people on Saturday took to the streets of Spain’s eastern city of Valencia to mark the first anniversary of floods that killed 229 people and to denounce the handling of the disaster. Demonstrators, many carrying photos of the victims, called on regional government head Carlos Mazon to resign over what they said was the slow response to one of Europe’s deadliest natural disasters in decades. “People are still really angry,” said Rosa Cerros, a 42-year-old government worker who took part with her husband and two young daughters. “Why weren’t people evacuated? Its incomprehensible,” she said. Mazon’s
POWER ABUSE WORRY: Some people warned that the broad language of the treaty could lead to overreach by authorities and enable the repression of government critics Countries signed their first UN treaty targeting cybercrime in Hanoi yesterday, despite opposition from an unlikely band of tech companies and rights groups warning of expanded state surveillance. The new global legal framework aims to bolster international cooperation to fight digital crimes, from child pornography to transnational cyberscams and money laundering. More than 60 countries signed the declaration, which means it would go into force once ratified by those states. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the signing as an “important milestone,” and that it was “only the beginning.” “Every day, sophisticated scams destroy families, steal migrants and drain billions of dollars from our economy...
RSS