HONG KONG — The failure of the six-party talks to agree on a schedule for North Korea to declare and disable all of its nuclear programs shows that there are major obstacles ahead, although the first phase — providing for the shutdown of the Yongbyon nuclear reactor — went relatively smoothly, despite a four-month delay over the return of $25 million in frozen funds to Pyongyang.
American negotiator Christopher Hill said he still hopes that North Korea's nuclear facilities can all be disabled by yearend. However, the lack of substantive progress at the July talks suggests that the target is too optimistic.
As Washington focuses on the objective of bringing about complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization of North Korea, Pyongyang is more interested in what it can get in return.