N. Korea says U.S. stalling nuclear talks

BEIJING -- North Korea put an offer of nuclear disarmament on the bargaining table Thursday then struck a characteristically tough stance by accusing the United States of blocking progress in six-nation talks on its weapons program.\nThe North's terse statement, read outside its Beijing embassy in the dark before a hastily assembled press corps, came after a day of apparent advances in which South Korea, China and Russia agreed to provide the impoverished North with crucial energy aid if it would agree to disarm.\nIn Washington, D.C., Secretary of State Colin Powell said the first two days of multilateral talks were positive. "There's a promising attitude that's emerging from those meetings, and hopefully we can move in the right direction there," he told the U.S. Senate Budget Committee.\nHowever, a U.S. official familiar with the talks said North Korea showed no interest in meeting the American insistence on a complete and verifiable dismantling of its nuclear weapons programs before the North can receive any concessions.\nNorth Korea insists it needs a nuclear "deterrent" against a possible U.S. attack but would freeze its efforts in return for aid and formal security assurances.\n"We will abandon our nuclear weapons program when the United States drops its hostile policy toward North Korea," said a statement read by an unidentified North Korean official. "The United States should take all the responsibility for the meeting not making progress."\nThe statement said North Korea has a problem with Washington's "attitude," making it difficult for there to be progress during the current talks, which began Wednesday and were scheduled to continue at least through Friday.\nThe conflicting signs -- progress and immediate public criticism -- are a hallmark of North Korea. \nChina, which is the North's last major ally and is hosting the six-nation meeting, expressed hope that the talks are providing "an opportunity to build trust."\n"The various parties welcomed the proposition from the North Korean side for the comprehensive stopping of nuclear activities," Chinese spokesman Liu Jianchao said at a briefing. "As for the details and specific arrangements for stopping the nuclear activities, it is still being discussed among the various parties."\nThe proposal to disarm came as China, the U.S., North and South Korea, Japan and Russia met to try to resolve the dispute. North Korea's five negotiating partners all want the Korean Peninsula to be nuclear-free.\nChina has advocated continued lower-level discussions -- not only to hammer out a disarmament plan, but also to resolve Pyongyang's security concerns.\n"It is essential to establish working-level groups," Liu said.\nThe last round of talks, in August, ended after three days with only vague plans to meet again.\nRussia said a "gap" remained before the standoff could be solved fully. Its top delegate, Alexander Losyukov, said North Korea showed "readiness" to abolish its nuclear weapons program but wanted to maintain a "peaceful" nuclear capability.\n"North Korea is not ready to drop all its nuclear programs. It's not realistic to ask them to do it," Losyukov said. "North Korea is ready to drop its nuclear defense program, but some countries are not satisfied with that."\nHe added, "We have certain doubts that it will be possible to remove it during this session of talks."\nNorth Korea and the U.S. have been at odds over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions for years and especially since October 2002, when U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly said the North told him it had a secret weapons program based on enriched uranium.\nNorth Korea has publicly denied it has a uranium program in addition to its known plutonium-based program.\nSouth Korea's chief delegate to the talks, Lee Soo-hyuck, said China and Russia agreed Thursday to help the South provide energy aid to the North -- a move China confirmed.