Talks aimed at persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program headed into a final day on Friday, with officials holding out little hope of reaching a deal on first steps toward that goal.Negotiators said they wanted to focus on a September 2005 agreement that offered the North aid and security guarantees in return for disarmament, but Pyongyang remained preoccupied with getting U.S. financial curbs against it lifted. "Our goal is denuclearisation. Period," chief U.S. envoy Christopher Hill told reporters on Friday morning, before heading out to meet the Chinese. "They need to show some seriousness of purpose on denuclearisation."
The talks, which group the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, are the first in more than a year and are taking place in the shadow of the North's first nuclear test on October 9.
Hill questioned just how seriously North Korea wanted to talk about the nuclear issue, saying they seem to be avoiding the question. "One day it's financial issues, another day it's something they want but know they can't have, another day it was something that was said that hurt their feelings. It's one thing after the other," he said. Hill said he would head home on Saturday, agreement or not, but was unsure about if or when talks could resume.
