U.S. envoy James Kelly to Asia leaves his hotel, heading for crisis talks with North Korean and Chinese officials

BEIJING, April 24 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The United States and North Korea completed a second day of talks on the festering nuclear issue Thursday, April 24, as Pyongyang accused the United States of leading the region toward war and host country China called for sincerity from all sides.

The State Department's Asia envoy James Kelly sat down for negotiations just hours after North Korea fired a broadside against the United States, saying the key to solving the crisis was in U.S. hands, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.

"The situation on the Korean peninsula is so tense that a war may break out any moment due to the U.S. moves," the state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in an editorial.

The U.S.-led attack on Iraq highlighted the need for a "strong physical deterrent force," the agency said, urging the United States to undertake "a bold switchover" in its hostile policies toward North Korea.

"This is the master key to making the talks fruitful to satisfy the expectation and concern of the international community," it said.

The editorial, published two days after the commander of U.S. forces in South Korea called North Korea "a thorn to the passage of peace in this region," was followed by a Chinese call for a constructive attitude.

"The issue has a complicated background and solving it requires unremitting efforts," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a regular briefing.

"We hope the relevant sides will show sincerity and play a constructive role."

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi Thursday told foreign media the United States would not deal with North Korea as it did with Iraq.

"I discussed the matter with (U.S. President George W.) Bush, and we see eye to eye that the North Korea issue should be resolved through political and diplomatic efforts," Koizumi said.

The negotiations between Kelly and diplomats from North Korea and China lasted from mid-morning to mid-afternoon at the Diaoyutai State Guest House, a walled compound in western Beijing.

"The fact that the talks continue today probably indicates that things are going as expected," a US embassy official said.

Kelly arrived back at his hotel late in the afternoon, smiling but making no comments other than acknowledging that talks had taken place.

The negotiations, scheduled to end Friday, mark the first direct dialogue since the crisis over North Korea's nuclear program erupted in October 2002.

The North Korean negotiators were led by Li Gun, the foreign ministry's deputy director for U.S. affairs and a former senior member of his country's delegation to the United Nations.

China was represented by Fu Ying, director of the foreign ministry's department of Asian affairs.

Despite intense media attention, the three parties have decided to keep the talks low-key.

The few details that have emerged suggest that the United States and North Korea are firmly entrenched in their previous positions.

According to South Korea's Yonhap news agency, U.S. officials restated Washington's demand that Pyongyang must put a verifiable and permanent end to its nuclear weapons programs.

North Korea repeated its demand for a security guarantee from Washington in return for addressing U.S. "security concerns".

Washington also demanded the inclusion of Seoul and Tokyo in the talks while North Korea insisted on bilateral negotiations with Washington, according to reports.

South Korean government officials said the talks had been "businesslike," but warned against expectations of a breakthrough.

"We need to be patient and watch progress quietly as the talks will take a long time," a senior South Korean official was quoted as saying.

Kelly briefed Japanese and South Korean diplomats Wednesday on the day's events, but officials at the two Asian countries' embassies in Beijing were instructed not to divulge details.