The North wants aid and guarantees first and the right to keep civilian nuclear programmes. It has also demanded a light-water reactor, a nuclear reactor which generates electricity but is unsuitable for making nuclear weapons. Washington has urged North Korea to focus on a draft joint statement, which sets out the principle of a nuclear-free Korean peninsula and contains an offer from South Korea to supply the North with 2,000 megawatts of electricity, roughly equivalent to the North's total power output, if it scraps its nuclear plans. But Seoul has said it would not be opposed in principle to Pyongyang having a civilian atomic energy programme in future. "If their concern is electricity, there is a very generous electricity package. If their concern is something else, they ought to be clear with us and tell us what that is," Hill said. "Light-water reactor is a non-starter. We have a pretty good deal on the table," he added. "Our view on the talks is we are prepared to participate in the talks as long as we believe the talks are in fact useful." --More 1118 Local Time 0818 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/289449