Tuesday, August 2 2005 19:38 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Beijing: Despite more than a week of hard bargaining, the six-nation talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear programme were making "little headway" and would enter a record ninth day tomorrow, officials told to sources in Beijing today (August 2, 2005).

The eighth day of the six-party talks on dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons ended inconclusively here today and the chief negotiators will meet for a record ninth day tomorrow, a South Korean diplomat told reporters.

The diplomat said the meeting of the chief negotiators from the United States, North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia ended but no agreement was reached. No end date has been set for this round of talks, the fourth in its series since 2003. Previous three rounds each lasted three to four days.

South Korean and US officials said the talks were making little headway. China presented a new draft text of statement overnight, its third since Saturday, with inputs from the other five participating countries.

The meeting between chief negotiators began this morning after the one-on-one consultations between delegations of China and the United States, and China and North Korea, a Chinese official said.

All six countries, including North Korea, are committed to a denuclearised Korean Peninsula but differed over how to achieve the goal.

US chief negotiator and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, Christopher Hill said earlier today prior to the talks that it was still very difficult for the United States and North Korea to reach mutual understanding even though there was "no problem" for the two to talk.

"Frankly, we were not able to bridge any differences, "the chief US negotiator, Christopher Hill, told reporters as he left his hotel this morning. "So clearly there are a lot of issues to be worked on."

"A lot of differences" still remained between the DPRK and the other participants of the six-party talks, he said, using the reclusive Stalinist nation's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

A 210-minute parley held here yesterday achieved no concrete result, a Chinese official said. Chief negotiators from the six nations had frequent shuttle contacts for in-depth discussions on the draft since Sunday. Details were not made public but the South Korean media reported that the negotiations were centered on what North Korea can expect to get in return for giving up all its nuclear programs, both plutonium and uranium.

North Korea is also resisting Washington demand that it should not be allowed peaceful use of nuclear energy out of proliferation concerns, meeting sources said.