North Korea's insistence on a light-water nuclear reactor was identified as a key sticking point in the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsular nuclear issue by both South Korean and US delegations yesterday.

"At present, the demand of North Korea for a light-water reactor and the scope of dismantlement of nuclear programs remain the crucial differences," said South Korean delegation chief Song Min-soon.
   
Chief US negotiator Christopher Hill described a bilateral meeting with North Korea as "lengthy" and fruitless because of the demand, offered in exchange for scrapping all nuclear weapons programs.
   
"Neither the United States nor any other participants in the six-party process is prepared to fund a light-water reactor," he said, and that Pyongyang could get conventional energy, security guarantees and economic assistance under the fourth draft of a common document circulated by China.
   
China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the US reopened the second phase of the fourth round of talks in Beijing on Tuesday after a five-week recess.
   
"Since the resumption of the talks, all parties have held a series of one-to-one meetings to be acquainted with each other's position," Song told a news briefing. "In the next step, the parties will continue to hold bilateral consultations according to their needs."
    
"There is little possibility for North Korea to make concessions on its right to civilian nuclear programs from both political and economic perspectives," said Piao Jianyi, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Asia-Pacific Institute.
   
North Korea is demanding the right to have a civilian nuclear program while the US wants full dismantlement of all of its nuclear programs.
   
Hill said North Korea's demand for a light-water reactor has gone beyond the fourth draft. "We consider the fourth draft to be an excellent basis for reaching the goals of principles that will guide us to the eventual agreement," he said.

Song said the talks have not yet entered the stage of formulating an agreement, adding that China is collecting and sorting out opinions from all the parties in verbal or written forms.
   
The first three rounds of six-party talks ended inconclusively. The fourth round began in late July.

(Xinhua News Agency September 15, 2005)