day session at which the six countries failed to reach agreement even on a statement of basic principles. Negotiations first began in 2003. The crisis erupted in October 2002 when Washington said Pyongyang had admitted to a secret programme to enrich uranium, used to make nuclear weapons, in violation of a 1994 agreement. North Korea denied the charge at the time, and responded by throwing out U.N. weapons inspectors at the end of 2002 and withdrawing from the Non-Proliferation Treaty in January 2003. Last February, the North said it had nuclear bombs. --SP 1119 Local Time 0819 GMT
