Talks continue at N Korea forum

A second day of meetings aimed at trying to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear programme is under way in Tokyo.
The meetings are taking place on the sidelines of a privately-organised security conference.

US and Chinese negotiators met on Tuesday to discuss ways to restart the stalled six-party talks process.

But US representative Christopher Hill continued to rule out talks with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye-gwan.

"I do not have any plans for any more meetings," Mr Hill said. "We can meet with the DPRK [North Korea] any time, night or day, when they are in the six-party process."

Talks stalled

The six-party talks, in which the two Koreas, the US, China, Japan and Russia are participating, have been stalled since November's fifth round in the Chinese capital, Beijing.

On Monday, Mr Kim said that the US had to lift what he called financial sanctions against Pyongyang before the talks could go ahead.

But the US says the financial and nuclear issues are separate.

"They've got to get themselves to Beijing, bring some position on how they are going to denuclearise," Mr Hill told reporters.

Mr Hill, who described his meeting with his Chinese counterpart as "excellent", met the South Korean negotiator earlier on Tuesday, and was due to meet the Japanese representative later in the day.

The South Korean negotiator, Chun Young-woo, said he was keen to help the US and North Korea find common ground.

The conference in the Japanese capital, organised by the University of California at San Diego, is bringing together officials and academics from the six parties for informal talks.

The BBC's Chris Hogg in Tokyo says the idea is that a candid exchange of views at the forum may in time help make it easier for the nuclear negotiations to restart.