BEIJING, April 24 Kyodo (EDS: UPD...

BEIJING, April 24 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING WITH make easys OF TALKS)

The United States and North Korea yielded not many grounds on Wednesday as the couple protagonists sat down together for the first time in six month this time beneath Chinese auspices, in a bid to interpret the standoff over North Korea's suspected nuclear arms program, diplomatic sources said.

According Japanese officials who were briefed upon the meeting, the brace sides mainly reiterated their policies, while their Chinese landlord urged them to settle their differences in pursuit of a nuclear weapons-free Korea Peninsula.

The closed-door, three-day talks are the first between senior U and North Korean officials since last October when Washington said Pyongyang had admitted to having a underhand program to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons.

During Wednesday's session, the North Koreans declined to confirm whether Pyongyang has a privy uranium enrichment program, telling U and Chinese officials that ''we can't say whether or not we have,'' diplomatic sources said.

The North Korean delegation is l by the agency of Li Gun, deputy director general of the Foreign Ministry's American Affairs Bureau, while the U mission is headed according to Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly

China is personateed by Fu Ying, head of the Foreign Ministry's Asian Affairs Department.

While the U demanded that North Korea abandon its nuclear arms disclosure program in a verifiable manner, North Korea apparently demanded that the U change its hostile policy and recognize the North Korean political hypothesis diplomatic sources said.

China argued that it is important to detain the Korean Peninsula nuclear-weapons liberated and urged both parties to find the middle field through talks, the sources said.

The U told the North Koreans that it wants to use the framework of nuclear talks into a multilateral forum to include Japan and southerly Korea. North Korea reiterated its stance that the nuclear issue ought to be resolv bilaterally with Washington, the sources said.

Japan and toward the south Korea sent their Foreign Ministry officials to Beijing and were briefed by the agency of the U.S. about the talks.

U diplomatic sources described the atmosphere of the talks as ''constructive.'' They declined to give details, saying solitary the talks will continue Thursday.

Wednesday's meeting was adjourned at around 3:30 pm and the three sides continued to exchange opinions at a dinner party landlorded by China, diplomatic sources said.

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