North Korea defiantly proclaimed itself a nuclear power yesterday and demanded an end to sanctions before it disarms, while the US said it was running out of patience with Pyongyang at the first six-nation arms talks since its nuclear test.
The talks on the North's nuclear program resumed at a Chinese state guesthouse in Beijing after the North ended a 13-month boycott over US financial restrictions. Prospects for progress were uncertain, as North Korea issued a list of preconditions before it would dismantle its atomic program.
Among the North's demands at the talks were the lifting of all UN sanctions and US financial restrictions, along with being given a nuclear reactor for power generation and energy aid until it is built, a summary of opening speeches released by one of the delegations involved showed.
But US negotiator Christopher Hill said sanctions would remain in effect until the North disarms, adding he hoped for initial steps this week on implementing a denuclearization agreement reached in September last year "to demonstrate that the process indeed has legs and is moving forward."
In that agreement the North pledged to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for security guarantees and aid.
"The supply of our patience may have exceeded the international demand for that patience and we should be a little less patient and pick up the pace and work faster," Hill said.
He said that no bilateral meeting with the North Koreans will be scheduled until he consults with other delegations.
"The position of the North Korean delegation is wide apart from the rest of us and we cannot accept it," Japanese negotiator Kenichiro Sasae told reporters.
China, the North's last major ally, also pushed for results.
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