BEIJING, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Multi-national talks on dismantling North Korea’s nuclear program have reportedly hit a snag that has stalled progress.
The Yonhap news agency said Friday negotiators did not say specifically what the sticking point is; however, they agreed there is still a lot of work to do.
The six-nation talks resumed Thursday in Beijing. Yonhap said Friday’s session lasted a mere 10 minutes.
The talks are aimed a building on a February agreement that led to the shutdown of five nuclear facilities in exchange for a package of foreign aid. Negotiators are now working on a deal that would permanently disable the facilities.
China’s Xinhua news service said the negotiations had been dominated by bilateral sessions among the six parties and would continue through the weekend.
There is no deadline thus far for disabling the facilities, but the United States wants it done by the year’s end.
Yonhap quoted Christopher Hill -- the chief U.S. negotiator at the talks, who has been meeting separately with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye Gwan -- as saying after Thursday’s talks: ”We'd like to do more. The DPRK (North Korea) would like us to do less. We'll figure out a way through that.”
