WASHINGTON -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice withheld formal reaction Tuesday to the latest nuclear talks with North Korea, saying she needs to assess what has been and remains to be done.
The secretary said she has received only a preliminary report from Christopher Hill, assistant secretary of state and top U.S. nuclear envoy, and would be speaking to him again later in the day.
Just hours before, Hill concluded a meeting with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye-gwan, in Singapore.
"I think that we have a lot of work to do with North Korea," Rice said at a press conference following talks with her Mexican and Canadian counterparts.
"If there has been some progress, that's a good thing, but I think we will have to assess what it is we have, what it is that is remaining to do," Rice said.
The U.S. and North Korea are two of the six nations that make up what is known as the six-party talks, along with South Korea, China, Russia and Japan. They are engaged in negotiations to dismantle Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and programs, and in exchange provide various economic and political benefits.
The six governments succeeded in laying out a roadmap to eventual dismantlement, but the process has been seriously challenged by North Korea's failure to meet a Dec. 31 deadline to provide a declaration accounting for fissile material and atomic facilities as well as any proliferation activities.
Hill and Kim met in Geneva last month and nearly reached a full agreement, but the North Korean envoy failed to get his government's approval at the last minute.
At issue were North Korea's suspected uranium enrichment program -- an alternative to plutonium-based weapons production, and the transfer of nuclear technology and material to other countries. The North refused to admit to either, but sources indicated they have found a compromise under which Pyongyang would not deny the allegations.
The two envoys declined to give details of their discussions in Singapore, but both said they had productive talks. Hill heads out to Beijing to meet other counterparts from the six-party talks on Wednesday.
"I would say we took the discussion beyond where we had it in Geneva," said Hill. "I think that, depending on what we hear back from capitals by tomorrow, I think there will be some further announcements very soon." (Yonhap)