Deadlocked nuclear talks may end without deal

By Lee Chi-dong
BEIJING, Dec. 10 (Yonhap) -- Negotiators failed Wednesday to narrow differences
on how to inspect North Korea's atomic arms program, as Pyongyang's envoy
reiterated that his country is a nuclear state, South Korea's representative to
the six-way talks said.
"It was a long day, but I have nothing to tell you in terms of progress," Kim
Sook told reporters after his third-day talks with counterparts from North Korea,
the U.S., China, Russia, and Japan.
He said that discussions on a major agenda item -- ways to verify the North's
recent nuclear declaration -- remained stalled.
"There are several core contents in a (planned) verification protocol, especially
scientific procedures including sampling," he said. "North Korea said it can't
accept that. It gave fundamental and comprehensive reasons."
However, the North -- which self-proclaims itself as a nuclear-armed country and
also says that Washington has a "hostile policy" toward it -- did not offer any
new explanations for rejecting the sampling procedures.
North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test in 2006, but the U.S. does not
recognize it as a nuclear state.
The latest round of six-way talks was initially supposed to finish Wednesday, but
host China has not yet called an end to this round.
China is expected to inform the parties on Thursday morning on whether talks will
be continued or not.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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