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Six-party talks soon: Hill

Pallavi Aiyar

Beijing: The United States' envoy to the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programme, Christopher Hill, said on Monday that China would announce the dates for resumption of the talks soon. He said he saw a basis for progress during the next round of talks, whenever they are held. Mr. Hill was speaking to reporters in Beijing, where he had discussions with his Chinese counterpart, Wu Dawei, on Sunday.

"We hope that the Chinese Government will be able to announce soon the start-up of the talks," he said before returning to Washington.

Beijing hosts the six-party talks, which include the two Koreas, Russia, Japan, the U.S. and China. The last round of talks was held in December after a gap of 13 months, during which time Pyongyang set off an underground atomic blast.

Initially, there appeared to be progress towards implementing a September 2005 joint statement that promised the DPRK economic aid and political assurances in return for nuclear disarmament, during the last session. However, despite some early optimism, the talks ended with no breakthrough. At the time, Mr. Hill blamed the lack of progress on Pyongyang's insistence that any discussions of its nuclear weapons programme be preceded by the lifting of U.S.-imposed financial restrictions.

China is the third country that Mr. Hill visited following three days of bilateral talks with North Korean envoy Kim Kye-gwan in Berlin last week. Before travelling to Beijing, the U.S. envoy also visited his counterparts in Seoul and Tokyo. "Based on all the consultations we've had in the last week or so, I think we have a basis for getting together as soon as possible in the six-party process and making progress," Mr. Hill said on Monday.

Conditional offer

A South Korean newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, reported on Monday that North Korea had offered to freeze activity at its nuclear reactor and accept international nuclear inspectors back into the country in return for energy aid, at the Berlin discussions.

But Pyongyang also demanded greater U.S. flexibility on the financial crackdown as part of initial steps towards ending its nuclear arms programme, the newspaper reported. The North Korean envoy also arrived in Beijing on Monday for discussions with Chinese officials. A day earlier, he held talks with his counterpart in Moscow.

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