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US to 'rethink' N Korea strategy | US to 'rethink' N Korea strategy |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Washington has said it will "rethink" its handling of N Korea, following the failure of the latest talks aimed at ending the country's nuclear programme. | |
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Pyongyang had missed an "open door" and the US could now reconsider its "action-for-action" strategy. | White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Pyongyang had missed an "open door" and the US could now reconsider its "action-for-action" strategy. |
But US officials told the BBC they would be briefed by the US envoy to the country before making any decisions. | But US officials told the BBC they would be briefed by the US envoy to the country before making any decisions. |
The talks stalled over verification procedures for nuclear material. | The talks stalled over verification procedures for nuclear material. |
North Korea had agreed in principle that it would receive fuel and other aid in exchange for dismantling its nuclear programme. | |
'Unfortunate' | |
The US envoy to the talks, Christopher Hill, said the delegates meeting in Beijing had had some very ambitious plans but had been unable to complete some of their goals. | |
Mr Hill said there had been "a lot of agreement among a majority of the delegations" but that ultimately, North Korea was "not ready really to reach a verification protocol with all the standards that are required". | |
Ms Perino said it was "unfortunate" that Pyongyang had decided not to work with the other delegates and put into writing what they had agreed verbally. | |
"There was an open door, and all they had to do was walk through it, because five of the members of the six-party talks had all agreed on a verification protocol," she said. | |
Ms Perino said it was too early to say what action the US would take next, but that they would "have to rethink some of this action-for-action, which is what we had said we would do". | |
No date has been set for future talks and analysts say it is unlikely that anything will be concluded before President George Bush leaves office in January. |
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