Ambassador Christopher Hill, the top US nuclear envoy to the North Korean denuclearisation process, spent an extra day in Beijing to discuss ideas to jump-start the stalled North Korea denuclearisation process. Earlier, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had discussions with the Chinese President Hu Jintao about the stalled North Korean denuclearisation programme. It has been reported that Ambassador Hill met his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei about the problems in the negotiations and the way to “create favourable conditions for the talks to enter into the next stage1.”

Reports indicated that Ambassador Hill might visit Beijing over the weekend to meet his North Korean counterpart for talks on ending Pyongyang’s nuclear programme. Speaking to reporters in Bangkok, Ambassador Hill stated, “I think we will have an announcement on that at some point. We had some very good discussions with the Chinese. There is an idea we might try to arrange something this weekend2.”

• 1. “US nuclear envoy leaves Beijing after extra day of N. Korea talks,” International Herald Tribune, February 28, 2008, at http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=10515208
• 2. “US’s Hill says may go to China For N. Korea Talks,” The New York Times, February 29, 2008, at http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-korea-north-usa.html?...