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North Korea says a US nuclear deal was agreed

North Korea said it reached an unspecified agreement with the US this week on its nuclear weapons program, but the US' top nuclear envoy said yesterday he was unaware of any such deal.

North Korea's Foreign Ministry said the talks in Germany between US envoy Christopher Hill and North Korea's main nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-gwan had been held "in a positive and sincere atmosphere and a certain agreement was reached there."

No further details were given.

Hill, who arrived yesterday in Seoul, said he did not know what agreement the statement was referring to. However, he said the talks in Berlin had been "more useful" than other meetings with the North last year.

Hill and Kim met for three days and were believed to be discussing when to convene the next session of international talks on the North's nuclear programs, among other issues. The last session in Beijing last month -- held after the North conducted its first-ever nuclear test in October -- ended without any breakthroughs.

"We paid attention to the direct dialogue held by the [North] and the US in a bid to settle knotty problems in resolving the nuclear issue," the North's ministry said yesterday in a statement released by the country's official Korean Central News Agency.

Hill said, however, that the international denuclearization talks -- which also involve China, Japan, Russia and South Korea -- were still the main forum for discussing the North's nuclear weapons program. He said it was still not clear how this week's bilateral discussion between the US and North Korea would help advance the six-nation international talks.

"What we now have to do is to see how those discussions can be folded into the six-party process, whether those discussions can help lead to some progress in Beijing," he said.

Hill said he hoped the six-nation forum would meet again before the Lunar New Year holiday celebrated across Asia that falls this year on Feb. 18.

"It's up to the Chinese [hosts] but I would think we'll have a six-party meeting pretty soon," he said.

The US diplomat was heading to Tokyo and Beijing after meeting with South Korean officials yesterday.
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