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Is that what these articles are telling us?

From Xinhua,
U.S. top nuclear envoy expects “real changes” in six-party talks
http://www.chinaview.cn 2007-02-03 21:34:08

Related report: Six-party talks - 3rd phase of 5th round

SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Xinhua)—Christopher Hill, U.S. chief negotiator for the six-party talks, said Saturday here that he expects “some real changes” in next week’s six-party talks.

“I am not going to get into specific elements, but I think we need to see some real changes on the ground,” Hill, who is also the assistant secretary of State, told reporters upon his arrival at the Incheon International Airport.

“We’ve had a lot of consultations for this round, and reasonably we can make some progress,” Hill said. “Let’s see if some of those useful, substantive conversations we’ve had can be put to use in negotiations.”

“I think we have to go from having various declarations to having agreement on implementation,” Hill added. “So I am looking for some implementation of the September 2005 agreement, meaning something changes on the ground.”

Diplomats from China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea(DPRK), the United States, South Korea, Russia and Japan will gather in Beijing next Wednesday to launch the third session of the fifth round of the six-party talks on the nuclear issues on the Korean Peninsula.

Hill will stay in South Korea until next Monday to fine-tune a strategy for the negotiation with Seoul and then fly to Japan.

At a joint statement adopted in the fourth round of the six-party talks on Sept. 19 2005, DPRK agreed to drop its nuclear weapon program in exchange for security guarantee, economic aids and normalization of diplomatic ties with the United States. However, the statement has not been implemented so far.

Related: U.S. hopes to make progress in six-party talks

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (Xinhua)—The United States said on Thursday it hopes to make progress when the six-party talks aimed at dissolving the nuclear programs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) resume on Feb. 8.

“We do believe we have a basis for making progress at this round,” U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said at a briefing.

China hopes upcoming 6-party talks to end in 3-4 days

BEIJING, Jan. 31 (Xinhua)—Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, who is also China’s chief negotiator to the six-party talks, said on Wednesday that he hopes the upcoming session of six-party talks will accomplish its mission within three to four days.

Wu’s remarks came after the United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea ended their second-day of talks on financial issues.

From the Gaurdian, via AsiaPacificNews
U.S. Nuclear Envoy Due in South Korea

Saturday February 3, 2007 6:46 AM

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - The main U.S. negotiator with North Korea was to arrive in Seoul on Saturday to coordinate strategies for upcoming six-nation talks on the North’s nuclear program.

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill was scheduled to meet his South Korean counterpart, Chun Yung-woo, and other officials during a three-day visit on how to make progress in nuclear talks set to resume Thursday.

Hill will visit Tokyo on Monday for similar discussions before flying to Beijing on Wednesday for the nuclear negotiations.

Hopes are higher than ever that the upcoming discussions with North Korea could yield concrete results amid indications that Washington and Pyongyang have narrowed differences over a key financial dispute that has hindered negotiations.

Before his departure, Hill said in Washington there is a ``basis for making progress at this round.’’

The negotiations - involving China, Japan, the two Koreas, Russia and the U.S. - have made little headway since their first and only agreement in September 2005, in which North Korea said it would give up its nuclear program in exchange for aid and security guarantees.

Progress stalled soon afterward because of Pyongyang’s objection to U.S. financial restrictions targeting the North for its alleged counterfeiting of U.S. currency and money laundering.

At the latest round in December - the first after the North’s October nuclear test - Pyongyang refused to address disarmament issues and demanded the U.S. lift financial restrictions first. The North claims the measures show Washington’s hostile attitude and illustrate its need for a nuclear deterrent.
And AP, via FoxNews
Report: North Korea Would Freeze Nuclear Facility in Exchange for Oil

Sunday , February 04, 2007

AP
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SEOUL, South Korea —
The main U.S. envoy to North Korea nuclear talks said Sunday the upcoming round could see agreements on initial steps toward the communist nation’s disarmament, but he cautioned it would take longer for the North to completely give up its nuclear weapons drive.

“Frankly, we cannot accept anything less than 100 percent implementation of the September statement,” U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters, referring to a 2005 pledge in which the North agreed to give up its nuclear program in exchange for aid and security guarantees.

“We won’t get it this month, but maybe we can have a good beginning,” Hill said before a meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Chun Yung-woo, to coordinate strategy ahead of the nuclear talks set to resume Thursday in Beijing.

• Monitor the nuclear showdown on the Korean Peninsula in FOXNews.com’s North Korea Center.

“But, the ultimate task for us is to complete denuclearization, not just begin denuclearization,” Hill said.

Hill’s comments came after a Japanese news report on Sunday said that North Korea is prepared to halt operations at a key nuclear facility in exchange for oil and an easing of U.S. financial restrictions.

Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported that North Korea was prepared to close the reactor in its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon and accept inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency—though the reactor itself would remain off-limits.

Asahi quoted former U.S. State Department official Joel Wit, who was in Beijing following meetings with chief North Korean arms negotiator Kim Kye Gwan and other senior officials in Pyongyang days ago.

The North, however, does not intend to close the site used for its October nuclear weapons test, will not allow inspections there, and is not prepared to reveal details of its nuclear weapons program, the report cited Wit as saying.

Hill declined to comment on the report.

At the coming disarmament talks this week, North Korea also will demand it be taken off Washington’s list of states sponsoring terrorism, the report said.

In return, Pyongyang plans to demand energy aid of more than 500,000 tons of crude oil a year to compensate for an aborted project to build two light-water reactors in the country, according to the report.

The North also will insist that Washington take steps to lift financial sanctions against North Korean assets held in Macau, imposed over the communist regime’s alleged counterfeiting of U.S. dollar bills and money laundering activities, the report said.

U.S. treasury and North Korean officials last week wrapped up another inconclusive round of negotiations over the financial sanctions. But U.S. officials have since expressed optimism the financial dispute would not disrupt the main nuclear talks.

Wit was accompanied by U.S. nuclear expert David Albright and traveled to Pyongyang on an official invitation, the report said.

The United States had supplied 500,000 tons of heavy fuel oil annually to the North until Pyongyang received the two light-water reactors as a reward under a 1994 deal to freeze its nuclear program.

The deal was scrapped in 2002, however, when the nuclear crisis re-emerged and North Korea kicked out IAEA inspectors.

The international arms talks, which involve the U.S., the two Koreas, China, Japan and Russia, have made little headway since the 2005 accord, the only agreement reached in the process.

At the latest round of discussions in December, the first since the North’s Oct. 9 nuclear test, Pyongyang refused to discuss disarmament and demanded the U.S. lift financial sanctions first.

Complete coverage is available in FOXNews.com’s North Korea Center.

It would certainly seem so.