N. Korean criticism casts pall over talks

North Korea criticized the United States Thursday for undermining the spirit of cooperation at six-nation talks on the North's nuclear programs, casting a pall over discussions aimed at persuading the regime to disarm, news reports and the U.S. envoy said. The North said Washington's sanctions against firms suspected of weapons proliferation and its accusations that North Korea is counterfeiting U.S. money would block progress in the latest round of talks, the South's Yonhap news agency reported, citing unnamed officials.

North Korea and the United States appear deadlocked on the basics: Pyongyang refuses to disarm completely without getting concessions along the way, while Washington wants to see the weapons programs dismantled before granting rewards.

N. Korean criticism casts pall over talks

By Audra Ang, Associated Press Writer | November 10, 2005

BEIJING --North Korea criticized the United States Thursday for undermining the spirit of cooperation at six-nation talks on the North's nuclear programs, casting a pall over discussions aimed at persuading the regime to disarm, news reports and the U.S. envoy said.

The North said Washington's sanctions against firms suspected of weapons proliferation and its accusations that North Korea is counterfeiting U.S. money would block progress in the latest round of talks, the South's Yonhap news agency reported, citing unnamed officials.

Delegates say this week's discussions -- the fifth in a series that has progressed fitfully and amid deep distrust -- are meant to focus on contentious details of a September agreement in which Pyongyang pledged to disarm in exchange for aid and security guarantees.

But North Korea and the United States appear deadlocked on the basics: Pyongyang refuses to disarm completely without getting concessions along the way, while Washington wants to see the weapons programs dismantled before granting rewards.

"The positions of the U.S. and North Korea remain unchanged," Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alekseyev was quoted as saying by Russian news agency Interfax.

The North reportedly also voiced its displeasure over President Bush's reference last week to a tyrant in North Korea -- widely seen as a disparaging remark directed at its leader, Kim Jong Il, Yonhap said.

The atmosphere at the second day of meetings, which also involved South Korea, China, Russia and Japan, "was so tense that the other delegates could hardly continue dialogue," the report said.

"They made clear that they are not happy" about the sanctions and counterfeit accusations, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the American envoy, told reporters late Thursday.

"They expressed concern about this and I had to make clear to them that these are law enforcement issues and not six-party issues," he said.

Washington imposed sanctions in October on eight North Korean companies accused of acting as fronts for sales of banned missile, nuclear or bioweapons technology. The order froze any assets in areas under U.S. jurisdiction, but it wasn't clear whether it had any impact because the United States bans trade with North Korea.

The United States also accuses North Korea of producing high quality counterfeit $100 bills known as "supernotes."

Washington and Seoul pressed the North on Thursday to suspend nuclear development after Hill accused Pyongyang of operating a reactor that produces plutonium -- a fuel for bombs.

"The time for them to stop producing nuclear material is now," Hill said. "The faster they move, the faster we move, the faster everybody moves, the faster (North Korea) can be reintegrated into the world."

South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon said South Korean diplomats proposed what their government calls a roadmap to disarmament during talks Thursday.

"We spelled out what kinds of steps are needed to advance the implementation plan," Song said, declining to give details.

He also emphasized the need to build trust.

"This process shouldn't focus on what the other side is unwilling to give us," Song said. "Rather, we should focus on what we can obtain from the other side."

Yonhap said one measure being considered was for the North to suspend operation of the Yongbyon reactor and plutonium reprocessing if Washington lifts some sanctions, including its designation of Pyongyang as a terrorism sponsor.

But Hill downplayed the possibility of a structured decision during this round.

"A three-day session is really too soon and too short a time to be working out a complete implementation plan," he said.

China says it expected this week's talks to run until Friday, then recess to let diplomats attend an Asia-Pacific economic conference in South Korea.

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