U.S. chief negotiator Christopher Hill said the talks had surely reached their final stage, but there were still real differences in each party’s position. The United States and North Korea continued their dispute over the right to “peaceful nuclear activities” and the extent to which North Korea would abandon its nuclear programs.

The U.S. State Department said, “North Korea should clearly and exactly state what they are going to abandon in the six-party denuclearization agreement... We cannot have a situation where North Korea pretends to abandon their nuclear program and we pretend to believe them.”

Meanwhile, South Korea’s chief delegate Song Min-soon said, “There may be a time for ambiguity when it is impossible to reach an agreement in a clear way, but I cannot say now is such a time.” This seemed to mean that he could ask the United States for some concessions.

South Korean officials in the talks reportedly say that Washington is considering including the clause allowing North Korea to claim its right to "peaceful nuclear activities" in the six-party joint statement, on the conditions that Pyongyang returns to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and accepts International Atomic Energy Agency inspections. This does not seem to be enough to satisfy the North, however, thus increasing the possibility of prolonged talks.

(englishnews@chosun.com )