US/North Korea talks described as good

Netherlands News.Net
Wednesday 23rd July, 2008

The US and North Korea have held their highest level meeting in four years over the dismantling of Pyongyang's nuclear program.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her North Korean counterpart Pak Ui Chun, along with other members of the six-party talks, held an informal session in Singapore on the sidelines of the meetings of the Association of South-East Asian Nations.

Rice described the unofficial talks as good, but said there were no surprises.

Other participants in the talks were the foreign ministers from North Korea, South Korea, Russia, China and Japan.

North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Ri Tong Il said Pak was hopeful the talks could build momentum toward ending the declaration and verification stage.

Pak called for complete abandonment of hostile US policies toward North Korea.

Pak also expressed the willingness of the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea to implement its own obligations closely following the implementations by other parties on the principle of action for action.

The negotiations were stalled until last month when North Korea turned over a partial accounting of its nuclear programs that the US wants verified.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said major progress was made during the meeting that could finally lead to the eventual denuclearization of North Korea.

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