US chief negotiator Christopher Hill said in Beijing Wednesday evening that the first meeting between the delegations of the US and North Korea?"did not make a lot of progress" as the resumed six-party talks entered the second day.

 

"I must say it is a meeting that we did not make a lot of progress," said Hill, adding that the US delegation based its talks on the fourth draft of a common document while North Korea demanded a light water reactor which is not included in the draft.

 

"They should focus on the elements that are on the table," Hill said, adding North Korea's insistence on including light-water reactor into the discussion is the major problem.

 

The draft common document proposed by China during the first-phase of the fourth round of talks ending in early August did not discuss a light water reactor, Hill said.

 

He said the fourth draft is "a conventional energy proposal," including security guarantees, economic assistance and improved relations between the US and North Korea.

 

"No body is prepared to fund the light-water reactor," said Hill.

 

(Xinhua News Agency September 15, 2005)