US: Washington and Pyongyang have blamed each other for failing to reach a breakthrough after four days of talks to end North Korea's nuclear crisis, but their host China said agreement to keep talking was a positive sign, writes Clifford Coonan in Beijing
The six-nation talks in Beijing, which also involved Japan, Russia and South Korea, agreed to disagree this time around and did not even produce a joint statement.
However, the thorny round of discussions did set up a working group to discuss the matter and the US and North Korea said they would hold more talks in Beijing before the end of June.
Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Yi tried to put a brave face on the outcome, saying he believed the two countries would ultimately settle their differences but that further talks were needed on the North's proposal to freeze its nuclear programme and on the US demand for Pyongyang to dismantle all nuclear arms schemes.
"What is important is that difficulties are gradually being narrowed," Mr Wang told a closing news conference.
Analysts had not really expected a deal to emerge from such public talks and said regular meetings of experts and diplomats was more likely to come up with a solution, as it would give an opportunity for detailed discussions behind closed doors.
Washington wants the communist state, which is on President Bush's list of "rogue states", to stop building nuclear weapons.
North Korea insists it does not have a secret enriched uranium weapons scheme in addition to the plutonium-based programme.
Pyongyang wants its regional security concerns addressed, as well as economic aid to boost its almost bankrupt economy. Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, who led the North Korean delegation, blamed "US hostile policies toward North Korea" for failure to achieve more.
He told a news conference in the North Korean embassy in Beijing - a rare event in itself - the US had ignored his country's efforts to strike a deal.
Speaking beneath a large picture of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and a banner that read, "Long life to the DPRK, my beautiful homeland", Mr Kim accused Washington of trying to isolate North Korea, officially called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
China, playing the role of honest broker in the talks, said strong mistrust between the two countries remained.
"Only with more direct contacts can both sides gradually establish mutual trust and fuel hopes of finding a peaceful solution regarding the nuclear issue," the official People's Daily newspaper said in Beijing.
During the talks the most likely scenario for a solution would be South Korea giving fuel aid to its neighbour in exchange for an end to the North's nuclear plan.
In Washington, the State Department said "key differences remain" but described the working groups as a sign of progress.