on-one meeting _ their first during this round of talks. The North had earlier refused to meet with the Japanese. No details were immediately released, but diplomats described the meeting as a positive sign. The talks stalled after North Korea insisted on receiving a light-water nuclear reactor, part of a U.S. aid package offered in 1994, said the American envoy, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill. He said providing such a reactor «is simply not on the table.» «They began to insist on a light-water reactor and wanted it included in the common document,» Hill said. «This parted company with the rest of the delegations.» Kim, however, said that he expected that the United States would «change its policy on not letting us have any kind of nuclear activities during the recess period.» During the recess, the «six parties will report to their respective governments and study ways to solve the differences,» said Wu, the Chinese delegate. «They are supposed to maintain contact and consultations during that recess,» Wu told reporters outside the building where the three-hour meeting took place. China, the meeting's host, issued a «chairman's statement» instead of the planned joint statement. It said the governments «reaffirmed that the goal of the six-party talks is the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner and agreed to issue a common paper to this end.» Diplomats say the talks are deadlocked over the North's insistence on retaining «peaceful nuclear activities» and what it would get for giving up its arms program. --mor 1049 Local Time 0749 GMT
