US, allies meet before North Korea talks

BEIJING - North Korea mixed smiles with threats and China urged patience on Tuesday as the United States and its allies huddled to co-ordinate their positions on the eve of talks over North Korea's nuclear crisis.

The two protagonists, North Korea and the United States, stand far apart ahead of the six-country talks that are a result of months of frantic diplomacy.

Washington demands the unconditional and verifiable scrapping of Pyongyang's nuclear programme before making concessions, while North Korea wants security guarantees before dismantling.

Host China -- keen to keep the dispute from escalating into a destabilising conflict or a refugee crisis on its northeast flank -- called for respect and calm from all sides after its chief negotiator, Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Yi, held separate meetings with the heads of each visiting country's delegation on Tuesday.

"The nuclear issue is very complicated and acute, and it is impossible to solve all problems through one or two discussions. Moreover, other issues may arise during negotiations," the official Xinhua news agency quoted Wang as saying.

"China hopes all parties will...show sincerity to solve the issue, adopt a calm and patient attitude, respect each other, conduct consultations on an equal footing, seek common ground and reduce disputes," said Wang. He later gave a banquet for the negotiators.

As part of China's continuous efforts to reassure the North that its security fears will be addressed, Wang said China opposed pressure, sanctions or war.

Flying into Beijing airport, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Yong-il smiled, waved and clasped his hands above his head before being whisked away in a three-car motorcade.

But in a sign of the high tensions on the Korean peninsula, a South Korean navy vessel fired two warning shots after a North Korean patrol boat crossed a disputed sea border at the world's last Cold War frontier. North Korea renewed a threat to pull out of student games in the South over anti-North demonstrations.

Diplomats from South Korea, the United States, Japan and Russia arrived in the Chinese capital on Monday. Ten months into the crisis, the only real consensus among the five is that the Korean peninsula should remain free of nuclear weapons.

Russia's chief negotiator Alexander Losyukov told Japanese counterpart Mitoji Yabunaka "there is a great deal of mistrust" between the Americans and North Koreans and the goal was to remove that mistrust, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

Losyukov suggested there be at least one more round of talks this year.

His and Wang's remarks underscored the fact most participants expect little more from the talks than agreement to meet again.

- REUTERS