Thursday, July 28 2005 20:21 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Beijing: Prospects of a breakthrough in six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons issue remained bleak today (July 28, 2005) despite lengthy parleys between the main actors, United States and North Korea, for the third day.

After a two hour bilateral meeting with his North Korean counterpart, chief American delegate Christopher Hill said differences remained and it "was not an easy process".

"We had a lengthy discussion and I must say there are a number of differences," Hill told reporters.

Hill and North Korea's Kim Kye gwan have held three such meetings on the sidelines of the international talks on de-nuclearising the Korean peninsula.

South Korean delegates were not optimistic over the fate of the ongoing in-camera talks.

"More negotiations will be needed before we can say something about the prospects of the meeting," South Korean negotiator, Song Min-soon said.

"Negotiations are currently being done mostly through bilateral contacts." Song said the current round of talks, which began on Tuesday, would continue at least till tomorrow. Three previous rounds of the six-nation talks ended inconclusively.

China, the host of the six-party talks said no apparent breakthrough has been reported yet to close the huge gap between the Cold War era adversaries, the US and North Korea.