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Singapore: Ministers from six nations involved in nuclear talks with North Korea, including US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, held a rare meeting on Wednesday that China said showed a "political will" to move the disarmament process forward.
In a break with US policy, Rice joined "informal" talks with North Korea on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian forum and said afterwards it had been a good meeting.
"The spirit was good because people believed we have made progress. There is also a sense of urgency about moving on and a sense that we can't afford to have another hiatus of several months," Rice told reporters after the talks.
China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said the six foreign ministers would meet again in Beijing for a more formal session, but no date had been set. This would mark a new chapter in the talks, as all previous negotiations had been at the envoy level and yesterday's meeting was billed as an informal discussion rather than full-blown negotiations.
In a symbolic gesture of better ties with North Korea, Rice made a point of shaking hands both at the beginning and end of the meeting with North Korea's Pak Ui-chun, and smiled at him and other ministers as the meeting began.
However, a senior official said Rice had also been firm with North Korea, which tested a nuclear device in 2006, and said it must quickly agree on a mechanism to verify its nuclear weapons.
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