U.S. blamed for hard-line stance

North Korea denies the existence of a uranium program.
BEIJING (AP) -- North Korea said today that six-nation talks on its nuclear program were not progressing because of the United States' "hard-line position."
The envoy also reiterated the North's stance that it will get rid of its atomic programs if Washington "abandons its hostile policy" and assures the North's security.
Those statements quashed earlier optimism generated when the North proposed "the comprehensive stopping of nuclear activities" after South Korea said it would give energy aid to the power-starved country.
The North made a similar proposal through diplomatic channels in December.
These were North Korea's first public comments in Beijing since the second round of six-nation talks began Wednesday. The talks between the United States, China, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas concern the North's nuclear ambitions and Washington's insistence that Pyongyang stand down.
'Hostile policy'
After the North's initial proposal, its ambassador in Beijing, Choe Jin Su, said in a statement read to reporters by another official that "the second round of six-nation talks is not making progress because of the United States' hard-line position."
"We will abandon our nuclear weapons program when the United States drops its hostile policy toward North Korea. The United States should take all the responsibility for the meeting not making progress," Choe said.
The United States insisted it would offer aid and compensation only after the North completely relinquished its atomic weapons programs, the South Korean news agency Yonhap quoted Choe as saying.
Programs
North Korea and the United States have been at odds over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions for years and especially since October 2002, when U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly said the North told him it had a secret weapons program based on enriched uranium.
North Korea publicly denies it has a uranium program in addition to its known plutonium-based program, but it brandishes the threat of what it vaguely describes as its "nuclear deterrent" in an effort to extract concessions.
U.S. officials believe the North already has one or two nuclear bombs and could make several more within months.
In December, the impoverished North demanded economic aid and other U.S. concessions in return for a freeze. Washington said Pyongyang must not only freeze, but start dismantling, its nuclear programs first.
This week's meeting is the second round of six-party talks. The first one in August, scheduled for three days only, yielded little more than a vague promise to meet again. Parties have made this meeting open-ended, hoping for more progress.