US envoy extends Korean stay for nuclear talks

Seoul: Washington's top nuclear envoy extended his stay in North Korea and held more talks on Thursday in a bid to break an impasse over the communist country's nuclear program, officials said.

US diplomat Christopher Hill went to North Korea on Wednesday to meet with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye Gwan, at the reclusive nation's invitation, US officials said. He stayed the night, and the two sides were holding more talks Thursday, officials said.

The process of dismantling North Korea's nuclear program has been stalled since the North abandoned a 2007 disarmament-for-aid pact in mid-August, citing Washington's refusal to remove it from a terrorism blacklist. The US maintains that the agreement required North Korea to submit to a thorough verification of its nuclear accounting - a demand it has rejected.

North Korea recently began reassembling its nuclear reprocessing plant in Yongbyon amid concern about its leader's health. Kim Jong Il, 66, has not been seen in public for more than a month since reportedly suffering a stroke.

Hill was expected to propose ways to adjust the sequencing of steps North Korea must take as part of verification, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Wednesday in Washington.

A senior US official said earlier that Hill would offer to let North Korea agree to a verification program - but submit details first to its Chinese allies. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

China in the past has served "as a repository for documents and information" and could do the same with the verification protocol, McCormack said. But he stressed that the North Koreans had to agree to the intrusive steps the United States is demanding.

"The ball is in the North Koreans' court," he said. "They have to reverse their reversal and they have to approve a verification regime."

The US official suggested that if North Korea agreed to a verification plan, Washington would provisionally remove it from the list of terrorism sponsors.