N. Korea: U.S. blocking nuke deal

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- For the first time during six-nation negotiations North Korea has formally offered to end its nucear weapons programs, but is blaming the U.S. for a lack of progress.

Delegates from China, Russia, North and South Korea, Japan and the United States are holding a third day of talks in Beijing Friday.

Pyongyang says a "hardline" U.S. stance is impeding the talks, insisting that Washington end what it calls "hostile actions."

In a prepared statement at a hastily arranged news conference Thursday, North Korea said it would get rid of its nuclear weapons if the United States assures its security.

It was North Korea's first public comment at the Beijing talks, which will close on Saturday.

"The second round of six-nation talks is not making progress because of the United States' hardline position," the statement said.

"We will abandon our nuclear weapons program when the United States drops its hostile policy toward North Korea," the statement said. "The United States should take all the responsibility for the meeting not making any progress."

North Korea has been willing to deal in return for aid. Saying it will not give into blackmail, the United States has refused to provide any aid to North Korea until it dismantles all its nuclear weapons programs.

The blunt remarks come a day after a bilateral "informal discussion" after the first session of talks between the United States and North Korea.

U.S. special envoy James Kelly spent more than an hour in talks with North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, and U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher described the session as "useful."

The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Thursday that North Korea had offered a comprehensive halt to its nuclear activities and said the move was welcomed by the five other countries taking part in talks on the issue.

According to the spokesman, Pyongyang said it had made specific requests before going through with the proposal, none of which were outlined by Liu. It is not clear if the proposal will meet the United States' criteria for a complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantling of North Korea's nuclear program.

The proposal is unlikely to include North Korea's "peaceful" nuclear program -- which Pyongyang maintains provides energy to the North Korean people.

Earlier, South Korea offered a plan to provide energy assistance to North Korea if the reclusive country agrees to give up its nuclear program, a South Korean spokesman said.

Russia and China agreed with the proposal, while Japan and the United States expressed an understanding and support of the offer, the spokesman said.

Liu said China was ready to provide energy assistance to North Korea if all six countries reach an agreement.

The talks in Beijing took six months of diplomatic shuffling after a first round last August failed to make any progress other than a loose commitment to meet again.

The standoff between the United States and North Korea flared in October 2002 when U.S. officials said Pyongyang admitted to secretly pursuing a nuclear weapons program.

North Korea was labeled a rogue state and part of an "axis of evil" with Iran and Iraq by U.S. President George W. Bush in his 2002 State of the Union address.

Pyongyang wants a nonaggression treaty with the United States, or at least a security guarantee from all five of its negotiating partners. The United States has refused to sign a nonaggression treaty with North Korea, but reiterated its position on Wednesday that it had "no intention of invading or attacking" the North.

Since the previous round of talks, a new twist has developed: Pakistan's revelation that rogue scientist A.Q. Khan provided North Korea with technology and know-how to make a uranium-based bomb to complement the country's plutonium-based weapons program.

In recent weeks, progress has been made in connection with the scrapping of other notorious nuclear programs. For example, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has abandoned his nuclear weapons program, and Iran is talking to the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Kim Jong Il's regime, however, has denied the existence of a uranium program, so getting the North to admit it is high on the U.S. agenda.

"I think the uranium enrichment program is the 800-pound gorilla in the negotiating room. You can't solve a problem if you deny that it exists or if you wish it away," Undersecretary of State John Bolton said.

-- Beijing Bureau Chief Jaime Florcruz and Senior Asia Correspondent Mike Chinoy contributed to this report

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