6-way talks end with hope after ending without N. Korean walkout.

Byline: Michael A. Lev

BEIJING _ North Korea had seemed satisfied with the first round of international talks designed to coax or coerce it into abandoning its nuclear weapons program. The host country, China, announced proudly Friday that the meeting had been a success because all six parties had agreed to a second round of negotiations.

On Saturday, however, North Korea angrily rejected the diplomatic process and threatened to walk away from it, potentially escalating the nuclear showdown.

"This round of talks was nothing more than empty talks," a North Korean delegation spokesman told reporters at Beijing's airport, reading from a statement as the envoys were heading home.

"We no longer have interest, or expectations either, for this kind of talks," he said. "We are left with no option."

That sounded like an unsettling end to what had been a desperately sought-after summit. But in the unpredictable universe in which North Korea orbits, a universe where the Cold War never ended, it was impossible to know what had gone wrong, if anything.

More than likely, North Korea was piling on the rhetoric as a reminder that it will not give the United States and its four partner countries _ China, South Korea, Japan and Russia _ an easy victory at the negotiating table.