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US and N Korea discuss sanctions US and N Korea discuss sanctions
(about 2 hours later)
US and North Korean officials have met to discuss US financial sanctions imposed against Pyongyang. US and North Korean officials have held face-to-face meetings for the first time since the start of crunch talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear programme.
The meeting was held on the sidelines of six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear programme, in Beijing. US treasury officials met their North Korean counterparts to discuss US financial sanctions imposed a year ago - which Pyongyang demands to be lifted.
Pyongyang walked out of the talks 13 months ago in protest at the sanctions, and has demanded they be lifted if progress is to be made on negotiations. Both chief envoys have also met for direct talks, as part of the six-party talks underway since Monday.
The US imposed the restrictions after accusing Pyongyang of involvement in money-laundering and counterfeiting. US envoy Christopher Hill said little progress was made on the first day.
Chief US negotiator Christopher Hill said there had been no progress on the first day of talks on Monday. Tuesday was a "much more important day to see how things are going to go," he added.
And he has warned that Washington's patience with North Korea is running out. North Korea needs a lot of things... They don't need nuclear weapons Christopher HillUS assistant secretary of state
North Korea on Monday said it would not consider halting its nuclear programme unless both the US financial restrictions and later UN sanctions - imposed after its nuclear test in October - were lifted. The US wants to revive a deal reached in September 2005, under which Pyongyang agreed to abandon its nuclear programme in return for US security guarantees and aid.
Pyongyang insists it wants the US to lift its restrictions - imposed two months after the September deal - on a Macau-based bank, which holds $24m of the regime's money.
The US blacklisted the bank in November 2005, saying it was linked to alleged money-laundering and counterfeiting by Pyongyang.
The move prompted Pyongyang to walk out of the talks, only agreeing to return after it had carried out a nuclear test on 9 October.
Altered demands
North Korea was in a defiant mood when it returned to the negotiating table with the US, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia in Beijing on Monday.
In his opening statement, chief envoy Kim Kye-gwan said Pyongyang would not consider halting its nuclear programme unless both the US financial restrictions and UN sanctions - the latter imposed after its nuclear test - were lifted.
N KOREA NUCLEAR PROGRAMME Believed to have 'handful' of nuclear weaponsBut not thought to have any small enough to put in a missileCould try dropping from plane, though world watching closely Low hopes for talks Text of September 2005 deal China press optimisticN KOREA NUCLEAR PROGRAMME Believed to have 'handful' of nuclear weaponsBut not thought to have any small enough to put in a missileCould try dropping from plane, though world watching closely Low hopes for talks Text of September 2005 deal China press optimistic
Envoy Kim Kye-gwan said Pyongyang was unconcerned that other countries did not accept its newly demonstrated nuclear status. He also repeated North Korea's demand for a nuclear reactor to generate energy.
But Mr Hill, the US assistant secretary of state, said the impoverished state had much to lose if the talks failed. And he said Pyongyang was unconcerned that other countries did not accept its newly demonstrated nuclear status.
"They should come to it in a mood of trying to reach a deal. North Korea needs schools, health stations, roads, airports. They need a lot of things. Both Mr Hill, the US assistant secretary of state, and Japanese and South Korean negotiators suggest the North may alter its demands in coming days, when negotiators break into smaller meetings.
"They need food, electricity. They don't need nuclear weapons," he said, suggesting the North may alter its demands in coming days, when negotiators break into smaller meetings. The impoverished state had much to lose if the talks failed, he said.
North Korea walked out of the last round of talks in November 2005 in protest at the US' decision to blacklist a Macau-based bank, which held $24m of the regime's money. The US accused Pyongyang of involvement in the counterfeiting of US dollars. "North Korea needs schools, health stations, roads, airports. They need a lot of things," he said. "They need food, electricity. They don't need nuclear weapons".
Two months earlier, in September 2005, Pyongyang had agreed to abandon its nuclear programme in return for US security guarantees and aid in a deal that was hailed as historic at the time. Despite the talking, no-one holds out much hope for any kind of breakthrough, the BBC's James Reynolds in Beijing says.
North Korea agreed to return to the talks - with the US, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea - after carrying out its nuclear test on 9 October. Leadership question
The test was followed by international condemnation and sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council. Meanwhile, a South Korean parliamentary report has suggested that divisions in North Korea over the successor to leader Kim Jong-il lay behind October's nuclear test.
Kim Jong-il agreed to the test to win military support for the eventual transfer of power to one of his sons, the report by the National Assembly's Intelligence Committee said.
"The fundamental task that North Korea has to address right now is not to overcome economic difficulties or establish diplomatic relations or a peace treaty with the US," the report said.
Its priority is "to stabilise the North's system through completing the designing" of the next leadership, it said.
The report also said the 64-year-old leader may begin the slow transfer of power to his son as early as next year. It did not say which of his three known sons it might be.