Nuclear negotiators today began hammering out procedures to check North Korea's account of its nuclear programmes, with envoys describing the talks as helpful but far from conclusive.
The six-party negotiations aimed at coaxing North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions are the first in nine months, after Pyongyang last month produced a long-delayed declaration of its nuclear activities, one of the big steps pledged under a preliminary disarmament deal.
US envoy Christopher Hill told reporters the fresh session in Beijing marked a start in seeking agreement on rules to check through the secretive North's nuclear account and also to monitor aid and other commitments by other countries.
"All in all, I think it was a good start to the process, but I think the effort to negotiate the actual verification protocol will be very important," Mr Hill said after a day of negotiations.
He added there were "no surprises" in the negotiations but that there were disagreements on the specifics. "There's going to be a lot of discussion. There are differences on how it will work," he said.
China's leading negotiator in the talks, Wu Dawei, told the opening session that he was encouraged by the fact the process was getting under way again.
"It is encouraging to see in the past three years, despite twists and turns, all of us are sharing the same boat and walking the same path," Mr Wu said.
The talks - which group North and South Korea, the United States, Japan, Russia and host China - are scheduled to run for three days in the Chinese capital, ending Saturday.