U.S. chief negotiator Christopher Hill said, "There is still a lot of language in the draft in which the various delegations have some differences," and that while differences had been narrowed, he added, "Everything's a problem until everything's solved, and nothing is solved until everything is solved." He also said he believed Korea's offer to provide electrical power to the North and the issue of economic cooperation with Pyongyang would be included in the final agreement.

There is reportedly still a wide gap over how to phrase the main goal of the talks, North Korea’s scrapping of its nuclear programs. Japanese government spokesman Hiroyuki Hosoda said effective dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear program and its verification were fundamental, as was the matter of North Korea’s kidnapping of Japanese, but nothing was clear at this stage. He said the U.S. could not accept things as they were.

Seoul, Washington and Tokyo feel North Korea cannot be allowed any nuclear facilities, but hitherto largely silent talk partner Russia on Monday indicated support for the Stalinist country’s insistence on peaceful use of nuclear energy. Valery Yermolov, the deputy head of the Russian delegation, said Russia was prepared to provide North Korea with compensation including development of nuclear power if it agrees to scrap its nuclear arms program.

(englishnews@chosun.com )