Amid deep discord, N.Korea nuke talks end (AP) Updated: 2005-11-11 20:53
The United States rejected North Korea's demand for aid in exchange for
suspending nuclear development, the U.S. envoy to disarmament talks said as the
negotiations ended Friday with no word of progress or a firm date to meet again.
The North's negotiating partners also agreed that its demand for a
civilian nuclear reactor should not be discussed until it has dismantled its
atomic programs, said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill.
"We're not prepared to make a separate agreement for them to freeze
programs," Hill told reporters. "We don't want to get into a situation where
they stop the programs, in short, freeze the programs, and then expect us to
compensate them for a freeze."
The talks ended amid rancor, with the United States pressing the North to
stop work at a plutonium-producing reactor and the North demanding that
Washington lift sanctions imposed on eight North Korean companies accused of
weapons proliferation.
"These kind of sanctions are in violation of the joint statement we have
adopted and are going to hinder the implementation of the commitment we have
made," said the North Korean envoy, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye Gwan.
The other participants are China, South Korea, Japan and
Russia.
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