The six-party talks on peacefully dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons programme will resume on Monday, after more than a year but a verbal spat between the envoys of Pyongyang and Washington has already cast a shadow on the parleys.
"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea needs to get serious about the denuclearisation issue," US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs Christopher Hill said. "A lot of good things could happen if Pyongyang gets serious about the denuclearisation issue."
"I'm here to do more progress on the September 2005 agreement," Hill, the top US negotiator for the six party talks, told reporters at the Beijing International Airport. "If the DPRK want a future with us, want to work with us, and want to be a member of the international community, they have to get out of the nuclear business,"
Pyongyang agreed in principle to dismantle its nuclear weapons at the September 2005 round of talks but boycotted the meeting following US financial sanctions imposed on the reclusive Stalinist state.
The US delegation is the last to arrive for the second phase of the fifth-round six-party talks, which also involves North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia.
The six delegations are expected to hold several bilateral consultations today before the talks is formally launched tomorrow morning. "If they want to get out of the sanctions, they should denuclearise," Hill stressed.
Hill said the United States, together with China and Russia, had told Pyongyang many times in many occasions that they don't accept the country as a nuclear state.
Hill reiterated the US delegation's commitment to the six-party process, vowing to solve the standoff through diplomatic negotiations.
Concerning the financial sanctions against the DPRK, Hill said it is not a focus of the six-party talks. The talks should fix on the implementation of the joint statement adopted by all parties concerned in September, 2005.
"We are here trying to get something real to be accomplished," he said, adding it is up to the DPRK.
The US chief negotiator also referred to UN Security Council Resolutions 1695 and 1718, which were adopted on July 15, 2006, and October 14, 2006, respectively.
The DPRK knows well the two resolutions, Hill said, adding, "They (the resolutions) remain on the talks as long as the DPRK is not denuclearised."
Hill's statement came after North Korea's top envoy, Kim Kye-gwan on Sunday ruled out dismantling its nuclear weapons unilaterally in the face of 'hostile' policies against Pyongyang.
North Korea was not optimistic about the outlook of the upcoming round of six party talks, and the United States should change its hostile policy towards Pyongyang to peaceful co-existence policy, Kim had told reporters on his arrival at Beijing International Airport on Saturday.
Kim, also vice foreign minister of North Korea said his side is willing to discuss other contents of the September Joint Statement except the nuclear weapons during the new round of six-party talks, under the circumstances that the US gives up its economic sanctions against his country.
"The United States should change its hostile policy against the DPRK," Kim said. "The nuclear issues cannot be resolved until the United States take a co-existence policy."
So far, the US delegation has no confirmed plan yet to meet the North Korean side before the fresh round of six-party talks.
Hill said he will talk with the delegations of South Korea, China and Russia soon. He expressed his hope that everybody is prepared to work very hard to 'make some progress' in this round of talks.
Launched in 2003, the six-party talks have been held for five rounds. However, the talks have remained on hold since the DPRK walked out of the negotiations more than a year ago in response to US sanctions for alleged money laundering through banks in Macao, a Chinese territory.
Over the past 13 months, the parties concerned have been engaged in a flurry of diplomatic activities in order to resume the talks.
China, the host of the six-way talks, have already appealed to North Korea and the US to build mutual trust and be ready for compromise and display patience so as to realise the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula through talks.
Washington has been pressing Pyongyang to halt the operations of its nuclear reactor in Yongbyon and accept inspections of the International Atomic Energy Agency but the latter demands the former first lift its financial sanctions as a show of good faith.
