U.S. envoy winds up last-ditch N.Korea nuclear talks

By Jon Herskovitz

SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. diplomat Christopher Hill was expected to finish talks in Pyongyang on Friday aimed at convincing North Korea to abide by a sputtering disarmament deal, but Washington said it was not offering new concessions.

Hill has been in Pyongyang since Wednesday seeking a deal that would allow monitors into the secretive country to check claims it made about its nuclear programme in exchange for better trading ties and standing in the international community.

Officials in South Korea said Hill had extended his stay in the North, indicating a deal might be in the works. Japan planned to send its top nuclear envoy to Seoul on Friday for discussions with Hill, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported.

A U.S. State Department spokesman said on Thursday that Hill was discussing a nuclear verification system in Pyongyang.

"Chris was not going to Pyongyang with any new proposals regarding the substance of the verification regime," Sean McCormack told reporters in Washington.

The nuclear agreement North Korea struck with five regional powers seemed in peril after an angry Pyongyang last month vowed to rebuild its ageing Yongbyon nuclear plant in anger at not being removed from a U.S. terrorism blacklist.

The United States said it would take the North off the list -- which would bring economic and diplomatic benefits -- once it has reached a system to verify its nuclear claims, including answering U.S. suspicions that it had a secret programme to enrich uranium for weapons.

The energy-starved North started to disable Yongbyon in November under the deal. If it backs away, it stands to lose about half a million tonnes of heavy fuel oil, or aid of equal value, that had been pledged to it for previous progress it made.