Nuke talks to resume in week of Sep. 12
(Xinhua/Reuters)
Updated: 2005-08-31 06:59

Some analysts said the reason for the delay might be that Pyongyang wanted to assess the outcome of the summit between China and the United States, the country it considers its main adversary.

While all six parties agree in principle to denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, analysts said North Korea and the United States remain far apart on the key issue of Pyongyang's right to a civilian nuclear program to be able to reach agreement soon.

U.S. officials have been skeptical about allowing North Korea to pursue such a program out of concern that it would actually be used for military purposes.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry official said on Tuesday the various parties, notably China, had taken advantage of the recess to conduct extensive consultations.

He Yafei said the main problem to emerge in the first stage of the latest round of talks was that the parties concerned differed on Pyongyang's right to peaceful use of nuclear power.

The Korean nuclear issue was so complicated that it could not be solved in merely several rounds of talks, He said. "There is still a long way to go."