A statement issued by China, the meeting's host, said lower-level meetings would be held before that to discuss the "first steps for denuclearization" of the North and compensation.

North Korea said June 25 that it would give up its nuclear program in exchange for fuel aid, an end to U.S. economic sanctions and removal from the American list of countries that sponsor terrorism.

The United States offered a security guarantee in exchange for scrapping the program. Japan and South Korea have offered to provide fuel oil, but Washington wouldn't give aid under its proposal, something that Pyongyang insisted upon.

The Japan Times Weekly: July 3, 2004
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