Top US envoy Christopher Hill on Thursday denied an alleged
signing of memorandum at a meeting between the United States and
North Korea in Berlin last month.
"We had good discussions and want to see what we might do in the
next six-party talks. We didn't sign anything," said Hill at a
hotel in downtown Beijing.
Reports claimed the United States and North Korea inked a
memorandum during Berlin talks, agreeing that Pyongyang's first
steps toward its denuclearization and US energy support should
begin simultaneously.
The fresh phase of six-party talks will resume in the Chinese
capital later Thursday, focusing on initial steps to implement a
2005 joint statement.
Under the joint statement reached on Sept. 19, 2005, North Korea
agreed to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for economic aid
and security guarantees.
The top US nuclear negotiator visited the Republic of Korea and
Japan before his arrival in China, emphasizing "concrete and
effective steps toward the full implementation of the Sept. 19
Joint Statement and the denuclearization of the Korean
Peninsula."
"At this point I don't want to tell that what aspects of the
agreement we try to get implemented except to say we do get set of
actions," Hill said. "If we do, it would be widely seen as a solid
positive step towards implementation of the agreement."
Hill also downplayed a quick settlement of the Korean nuclear
issue, just saying all parties involved try to deal causes of the
problems in a "broad and comprehensive way".
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"There is no success only when we implement the full Sept. 19 joint
statement," Hill said.
(Xinhua News Agency February 8, 2007)
