N. Korean talks show little promise

Crisis talks on ending North Korea’s nuclear arms programme reopened under a cloud of uncertainty on Tuesday as Pyongyang insisted on its right to atomic energy in the face of US opposition. Chief United States negotiator Christopher Hill said North Korea’s position did “seem to be evolving a little”, but there had been no real progress since the six countries involved in the negotiations last met in Beijing five weeks ago.

Hill said after a first meeting of the negotiators on Tuesday that no “hard deadline” had been set for the end of this, the fourth round of talks since 2003, but voiced confidence that it could be wrapped up in days rather than weeks. —Reuters