N. Korea Agrees to Halt Nuclear Program, Calls U.S. ‘Hostile’

North Korea’s offer to freeze its nuclear program has been made before, but participants hope the fact that it was made at formal multilateral talks will end the Washington-Pyongyang stalemate that began in October 2002.

The offer came after South Korea said it was ready to give energy assistance to the power-starved country if Pyongyang froze its nuclear program and took steps toward dismantlement, the Associated Press reported.

“The various parties welcomed the proposition from the North Korean side for the comprehensive stopping of nuclear activities,” Chinese spokesman Liu Jianchao said. Details were under discussion by the parties, he said.

A U.S. official familiar with the talks, however, said North Korea has shown no interest in meeting Washington’s insistence on a complete and verifiable dismantling of its atomic weapons program, according to the AP.

North Korea insists it needs a nuclear “deterrent” against a possible U.S. attack but would freeze its efforts in return for aid and formal security assurances.

An unidentified North Korean official read a statement at a hastily arranged news conference that said, “We will abandon our nuclear weapons program when the United States drops its hostile policy toward North Korea. The United States should take all the responsibility for the meeting not making progress.”

Despite such criticism, the current round of nuclear negotiations that also include Russia and Japan have been described as more productive than previous talks held in August.

Secretary of State Colin Powell, speaking at a Senate Budget Committee meeting Thursday, said, “The results of the first two days of meetings are positive. There is a positive attitude. There’s a promising attitude that is emerging from those meetings and hopefully we can move in the right direction there.”

North Korea and the United States have been at odds over Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions for years, especially since October 2002, when U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly said the North told him it had a secret weapons program based on enriched uranium.

North Korea has publicly denied it has a uranium program in addition to its known plutonium-based program.

The nations are working on a joint statement, the establishment of a working group to discuss the South Korean energy aid proposal and the date of their next meeting before the three-day talks wrap up Friday.