U. S.-North missile talks in failure

The Negotiations on the North Korean missile proliferation ended in failure, negotiators

between the United States and North Korea showed differences in their positions.

The two sides held talks for three days in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia but they failed to

reach an agreement, as the North Korean negotiators demanded the U. S. pay US$1 billion annually to Pyongyang in compensation for the North`s stoppage of its missile parts and technology, according to the U. S. and North Korean participants.

The bilateral talks were held in 16 months amid a favorable atmosphere created by the June inter-Korean summit, but the North stuck to its demand for the U. S. compensation for stopping its missile export and declared that it will not suspend its missile development too.

Jang Chang-Chon, head of North Korea`s bureau the on the U. S. affairs, told reporters claiming that Washington has no right to demand the North to stop the missile program, since the U. S. has deployed thousands of missiles around the East Asian region. Therefore, he said, the U. S. must compensate for the loss arising from the stoppage of the missile exports.

The North Korean chief negotiator said, disclosing that Pyongyang demanded the payment of US$1 billion per year, that his government will resume missile talks, only when Washington assures to compensate "our economic and political loss" stemming from the suspension of the missile sales.

In a separate press interview, meanwhile, the U. S. chief negotiator, Robert Einhorn, assistant secretary of state for proliferation, said that his government had no plan to

pay compensation for the North`s missile export suspension, adding that Pyongyang

will be able to earn more political gains with the progress in the U. S.-North relations and the improvement of security environment on the Korean peninsula.

The two sides agreed to hold further talks but they failed to decide on the date and venue for the future talks.