NORTH KOREA: Six-nation talks aimed at forcing North Korea to abandon its plans to develop nuclear weapons turned into a stand-off between Washington and Pyongyang over exactly what nuclear weapons the Stalinist state was prepared to abandon. By Clifford Coonan in Beijing
Host China remained optimistic that the six countries meeting to discuss the issue - of crucial importance in the East Asian arena - would find a resolution to end the 16-month-old stalemate over North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.
But there were few signs that the deep animosity and distrust between the US and North Korea, which has coloured the talks since the start, was showing any signs of abating.
Washington is keen that any agreement should include a promise by Pyongyang on a "complete, verifiable and irreversible" end to North Korea's nuclear programmes, and has threatened to walk out of the talks in the Chinese capital.
For their part, the North Koreans say that if they agree to suspend their nuclear weapons programme, they should receive economic aid from the west, including energy aid.
On Thursday, North Korea proposed to freeze its nuclear weapons programme and the South Koreans, Chinese and Russians have offered energy aid in exchange to the impoverished state.
While US Secretary of State Colin Powell has characterised the first two days of talks as "promising" and moving in the "right direction", the US remains sceptical about Pyongyang's motives.
The North Korean embassy insists: "We are trying our best to show our flexibility. We are trying our best to show our sincerity."
Japanese and South Korean diplomats said the talks would try to produce a joint statement, while host China also said there was hope for a final document.
But most analysts expect the talks to stall.
South Korea's Yonhap News Agency said the next round of talks by senior delegates from the US, China, Japan, Russia and the two Koreas would be held before April 30th. There were no signs of North Korea admitting to having a uranium enrichment programme.
North Korea has a plutonium programme centred on a small reactor at Yongbyon. But the US says the North is also carrying out uranium enrichment and US officials have said they presented evidence of the covert programme to North Korea in October 2002.
US officials said at the time that North Korea admitted the programme existed. Pyongyang has since denied any knowledge of it.
In a separate move this week, but one that the nations taking part in the talks in Beijing will have noticed, the US lifted a travel ban on Libya, allowing US companies to resume negotiations to re-enter the country, and said it would let Tripoli set up a diplomatic presence in Washington.
US officials have held up Libya as an example for North Korea to follow after Tripoli voluntarily gave up its WMD programmes.
North Korea and the US have been at odds over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions for years and especially since October 2002, when US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly said the North told him it had a secret weapons programme based on enriched uranium, thus violating a 1994 agreement.