"This week's talks would be focused on the North's moves to end its nuclear programs and corresponding measures by other parties," said a senior official at Seoul's Foreign Ministry.

"The purpose of this round of talks is producing a written agreement on the dismantling of the North's nuclear weapons to enter the early stage of implementing the Sept. 19 joint statement," he said.

He referred to the agreement signed Sept. 19, 2005, the first formal document since the six-way talks began in August 2003, involving the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia.

Under the Sept. 19 joint statement, the North agreed to abandon its existing nuclear weapons and all related programs as well as return to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty "at an early date."

In return, the North will benefit from energy aid from South Korea, talks to normalize relations with the United States and Japan, negotiations on the provision of light-water reactors to the North "at an appropriate time," as well as the establishment of a peace regime on the Korean peninsula to replace the armistice which ended the three-year Korean War in 1953.

But no further progress has since been made on implementing the joint statement and the six-way nuclear talks have been deadlocked over a U.S.-led financial crackdown on the North and Pyongyang's underground nuclear weapons test in October last year, which followed missile tests three months earlier.

South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator also expressed hope about concrete progress during this week's talks that may end on Friday, saying it was time for results.

"North Korea must be prepared to show, in actions, its commitment for denuclearization and must not make unreasonable demands; and the other five countries must not be ungenerous or hesitant in taking rational corresponding measures," South Korean envoy Chun Yung-woo told reporters before leaving for Beijing, which is hosting the six-party talks.

U.S. top nuclear envoy Christopher Hill also held out hope about this week's talks. "We all share ambitions for this round," Hill said in Beijing. "We want to make a good start, a good step forward" toward a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.

Upon arriving in Beijing, North Korean envoy Kim Kye Gwan also said he would "discuss early steps in the implementation of the Sept. 19 joint statement." He said North Korea is ready to discuss the initial steps of its nuclear disarmament. "It all depends on how we start solving problems that need to be solved," he said.

Hill and Kim held a face-to-face meeting in Berlin in December, creating what both sides called progress and paving the way for lower-level negotiations to resolve the standoff over U.S. financial sanctions on the impoverished North.

The two sides have yet to find a solution to the financial issue, but hopes are running high about the resolution of the thorny issue in this week's talks.

North Korea has said it was willing to halt the operation of its graphite-moderated 5-megawatt reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear complex, and allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to enter the country to confirm whether North Korea halts the operation, in return for lifting of the U.S. sanctions.

The United States has indicated that it would ease its financial sanctions, calling for the North's disarmament steps. The financial issue has been widely considered as the key sticking point in the prolonged nuclear standoff.

"The financial issue could be resolved in this week's talks. Both the United States and North Korea are under pressure to produce some progress in the nuclear issue," said Kim Yong-hyun, a North Korea professor at Seoul's Dongguk University.

earlier related report
NKorea raises hopes at start of nuke talks
by Shigemi Sato and Jun Kwanwoo
Beijing (AFP) Feb 9 - North Korea said Thursday it may be willing to give up its nuclear weapons as fresh six-nation talks began here amid warnings that four years of tough diplomacy on Pyongyang was at a crossroads. Four months after North Korea conducted its first atomic test to back its claims of being a nuclear power, the isolated nation's chief atomic envoy said disarming was a possibility, but that the onus rested with the United States.

Kim Kye-Gwan said he was prepared to talk about reviving a deal made in the six-way talks in September 2005, under which North Korea would scrap its nuclear programme in return for aid, energy benefits and security guarantees.

"We are ready to discuss the initial steps, but whether the US will give up its hostile policy against us and come out for mutual peaceful co-existence will be the basis for our judgement," Kim told reporters ahead of the talks.

"There are still lots of contentious points yet to be settled. It depends on how we settle those contentious points. We'll have to wait and see."

At the end of the first day, chief US negotiator Christopher Hill called it a "great meeting".

"We had a good first day today," Hill said as he returned to his hotel in downtown Beijing, adding he believed there was a good chance of agreeing a joint statement and moving towards implementing the original 2005 agreement.

"The Chinese are, as always, working very hard to turn this around into a draft of a joint statement," he added.

"We expect the Chinese to get (it) down on paper and distribute it to the delegations, if not later tonight, sometime early tomorrow.

"We hope we can achieve some kind of joint statement here and we have to see if we actually get that. And if we do it will be a great first step in terms of implementing the September statement (the 2005 agreement).

"We are moving on a path with a clear sign that there is a clear political will."

Japan's Kyodo news agency reported Friday that a source at the negotiations said China had circulated a document detailing a draft agreement.

The 2005 deal fell apart only two months after it was signed amid North Korean protests over unrelated US sanctions imposed against it for alleged money laundering and counterfeiting.

Although the sanctions standoff remains, Hill said he expected Kim would negotiate this week on reviving the deal, following positive direct talks between the pair in Berlin last month.

China is the host of the six-way talks, which began in 2003 with the initial aim of getting North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

The stakes were raised after North Korea's atomic test in October last year, and the forum now hopes to convince the Stalinist regime to disarm entirely.

As well as China, North Korea and the US, other countries in the process are Japan, Russia and South Korea.

China's chief envoy Wu Dawei said he wanted a "new beginning" to the process, following repeated false dawns, stalemates and disputes.

"I sincerely hope... all parties will make further efforts to make this session... a fresh start in the process towards the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula," Wu said in comments broadcast on national television.

The Japanese envoy, Kenichiro Sasae, who earlier said the diplomatic process had reached a watershed moment, said North Korea must freeze activities at its Yongybyon nuclear reactor and allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, who were kicked out in 2002, back into the country.

"These measures... need to be implemented in a relatively short period of time," Sasae said, according to a copy of his statement released to the press.

Hill has in recent days talked of possibly offering North Korea economic incentives in a "first tranche" of measures that would see Pyongyang take initial steps towards fulfilling its commitments under the 2005 accord.

However he has also warned that there were no prospects of North Korea completely disarming any time soon.

"It's a very important round because those of us who have been involved with this know that this cannot go on forever," he said.

No timeframe has been released for this round of talks, although delegates have said they expected it to last at least two or three days.

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