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The U.S. and North Korean chief negotiators in stalled six-nation talks on Pyongyang¡¯s nuclear program, Christopher Hill and Kim Kye-gwan, met in Beijing on Wednesday, a diplomatic source in Beijing said.
The meeting reportedly focused on the North's alleged counterfeiting activities, which have emerged as a stumbling block to the talks because of financial sanctions Washington has taken as a result.
The source said the meeting was arranged by China¡¯s delegation head at the six-party talks Wu Dawei. He said China apparently proposed a new suggestion to resolve the financial sanctions issue to both sides. There are hopes that the meeting could resolve the deadlock in the talks given that Hill, who went on a Southeast Asia tour after visiting China on Jan.12, came back to China on his way home in the immediate wake of a secretive visit to Beijing by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
It was not clear if Wu attended the meeting.
Hill arrived in Beijing on Tuesday afternoon, and Kim Kye-gwan reportedly flew to Beijing from Pyongyang on North Korea's Air Koryo the same day.
Meanwhile, Kim Jong-il has apparently wrapped up his eight-day visit to China and returned home. Kim¡¯s special armored train arrived at the border town of Dandong around 9:50 a.m. and after a 30-minute stop headed toward Siniju across the Yalu River, local sources said.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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