WRAP Envoys to NKorea nuclear talks object to Chinese draft proposal

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• published: 04 Aug 2015
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1. Wide of East gate of DiaoYutai state guest house 2. Mid of Hill's car in street 3. Wide of Hill's car driving through East gate into guest house compound 4. Mid of guard 5. Wide of North Korean chief negotiator Kim Kye Gwan's car arriving at DiaoYutai 6. Hill walking out of hotel 7. Pan from media to Hill 8. SOUNDBITE (English): Christopher Hill, US Assistant Secretary of State and US envoy at talks: (Zooms from wide shot) "There's a realisation that the first step that we are looking at is a big first step, and there are, to some extent it's going to require a little bit of a jump for them, and so I think they just want to be sure they understand what's expected of them." 9. Wide of Hill talking to media STORYLINE: Envoys to international talks seeking to end North Korea's nuclear weapons programme failed to agree on Friday on a Chinese draft proposal on initial steps for disarming Pyongyang, the main US delegate said, an indication that a breakthrough was not imminent. Speaking to journalists in Beijing, where the talks are being held, US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said the draft was discussed at a meeting of heads of delegations from the six countries involved. The one-page plan was presented after the first day of meetings on Thursday, where North Korea agreed in principle to take initial steps to disarm. It would grant the communist nation unspecified energy aid for shutting down its main nuclear facilities, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported. The US and North Korean envoys held a one-on-one meeting later on Friday at a Beijing hotel away from the main negotiating venue to discuss the draft. "There's a realisation that the first step that we are looking at is a big first step, and there are, to some extent it's going to require a little bit of a jump for them, and so I think they just want to be sure they understand what's expected of them," Hill said after seeing the North's Kim Kye Gwan. Officials declined to confirm details of the draft, but South Korea's nuclear envoy said it offered a good start for discussion. Hill said earlier Friday that he was anxious for progress in the slow-moving negotiations. Any agreement on an initial set of reciprocal moves to implement a September 2005 accord - in which North Korea pledged to disarm in exchange for aid and security guarantees - would set the stage for the first tangible steps in the often-delayed six-nation process. The 2005 deal, a broad statement of principles that did not outline any concrete steps for dismantling North Korea's nuclear programme, was the only agreement since the negotiations began in 2003. At the last session of the arms negotiations, in the wake of North Korea's October 9 underground nuclear test, the North Koreans refused to even talk about its nuclear programme. Instead, Pyongyang demanded the US lift financial restrictions targeting alleged North Korean counterfeiting and money laundering. But since then, the US and North Korean nuclear envoys held an unusual one-on-one meeting in Germany last month where differences between the sides were apparently discussed, although no details of any concessions have been made public. Pyongyang and Washington held separate talks in Beijing late in January on the financial issue, although it has yet to be resolved. The six-nation talks - including China, Japan, Russia, the US and the two Koreas - began in August 2003, but the North has twice boycotted them for more than a year. The latest was over a US decision to blacklist a Macau bank where the North held accounts, saying it was complicit in the regime's alleged counterfeiting and money laundering. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/803b70124948f5b185bef21655db2a43 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork