Washington and Pyongyang may be moving toward a formula for ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program. A second round of talks involving the U.S., China, Japan, Russia, and North and South Korea is expected to take place in Beijing in mid-December. The first round in August ended in rancor, but Pyongyang and Washington now appear more flexible. Pyongyang says it may drop its demand for a nonaggression treaty with the U.S. The Bush Administration, while rejecting a treaty, has indicated it could provide North Korea a written security guarantee in return for the "verifiable and irreversible" end to its nuke program. The talks will still be tough, since neither side wants to move first.
Copyright 2003, Bloomberg L.P.
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