5TH LD: U.S., N. Korea negotiators meet ahead of 6-way talks

BEIJING, July 17 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING COMMENTS BY JAPANESE NEGOTIATOR, BACKGROUND)

U.S. and North Korean nuclear negotiators held what the chief U.S. representative called ''very businesslike'' talks Tuesday, on the eve of a meeting of chief delegates of the six countries involved in the North Korean denuclearization process.

The talks between Christopher Hill, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, and North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan were held shortly after their arrival in Beijing on Tuesday morning.

Japanese, Russian and South Korean delegates also flew into the Chinese capital on the same day for the six-way talks that also involve China.

''We just had a nice lunch, not a lot of specific discussions,'' Hill said after meeting Kim at a restaurant.

Asked whether there were any new demands from North Korea, Hill said, ''No, no,'' adding that they ''reviewed a lot of things.''

''The atmosphere was very businesslike,'' he said.

In yet another signal of closer discussions between the two countries, U.S. and North Korean negotiators held talks at their respective embassies for the first time since the six-party process began in 2003.

Hill said he plans to hold more bilateral meetings with others before the six parties meet from Wednesday afternoon.

''We've got a lot of work to do, a lot of catching up to do,'' Hill said earlier upon arrival at Beijing's international airport.

Before leaving North Korea, Kim told reporters that the upcoming six-way discussions should focus on the second stage of denuclearization measures, adding that the first phase of a six-party deal reached in February ''has been accomplished.''

''So the talks will focus on the sequence of the obligation and actions to be taken by the concerned parties at the second phase under the Feb. 13 agreement,'' he said at Pyongyang's airport.

''I will not predict'' the outcome of the talks, he added.

The talks among the chief delegates of the six countries follow North Korea's halting of operations at its key nuclear facilities in Yongbyon over the weekend, which marked the first concrete step toward Pyongyang's denuclearization under the six-party deal.

Under the agreement, North Korea committed itself to shutting down and sealing the nuclear facilities in Yongbyon and inviting International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors back into the country in exchange for the start of the shipment of 50,000 tons of fuel oil.

The next stage of denuclearization requires North Korea's complete declaration of all its nuclear programs and disablement of all its existing nuclear facilities, according to the agreement.

''We believe it is important for North Korea to first show a constructive attitude'' over the submission of the nuclear programs list, Japan's head delegate Kenichiro Sasae said.

''In relation to that, we believe we should begin by listening to North Korea's ideas over disablement,'' said Sasae, director general of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau.

In the upcoming talks, the six delegates are also expected to try to set schedules for further talks, including dates for meetings of working groups that deal with specific topics.

They also plan to try to set a date for a meeting of their foreign ministers, which under the Feb. 13 agreement is to be held after the initial phase of the denuclearization is completed.

''We'll have a ministerial, but we've got to work on the timing and then work on exactly what we're going to do,'' Hill said.

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