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 BEIJING (AP) - New talks aimed at persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear programs opened Wednesday in Beijing, and the chief Chinese envoy called for negotiators to start work on the contentious details of how the North will disarm and what it will get in exchange.
Tensions between the United States and North Korea, however, were already building. The communist country criticized President Bush for calling North Korean leader Kim Jong Il a "tyrant," saying the remark put the prospects of the talks in doubt.
North and South Korea, the United States, Japan, Russia and China are participating in the fifth set of negotiations. They were expected to last three days before a recess to let diplomats attend an Asia-Pacific economic forum in South Korea.
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