Six-party Korean talks consider draft

BEIJING, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Negotiators meeting in Beijing on North Korea's denuclearization Tuesday considered a draft of a protocol for verifying Pyongyang's nuclear data.

The negotiators from China, the United States, Russia, Japan and South Korea, who have been working on dismantling North Korea's nuclear program in return for massive aid, returned to Beijing to resume talks, stalled for months over the verification issue.

Tuesday was the second day of their meeting and involved studying the protocol draft, Kyodo news service reported, quoting a South Korean government official.

Negotiators have been meeting to resolve the issue of taking samples taken from the North Korean nuclear sites.

The United States says taking samples at these sites is part of the verification process but North Korea says sample taking isn't part of the agreement.

North Korea had been disabling its main nuclear facilities but it stopped the process, demanding the United States remove it from a list of terrorism sponsors. That demand was met in October.