Related report: Six-party talks - 3rd phase of 5th round

    BEIJING, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- The six parties involved in the Korean nuclear issue remained divided on compensation measures for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as the talks entered the fourth day on Sunday.

    The Republic of Korea Chief negotiator Chun Yung Woo said it's "unreasonable" to expect breakthrough on Sunday as there will be further consultations to come.

    The current problem is not about the "scale" of the economic aid to be given to the DPRK, but about what actions the DPRK will take to denuclearize, said Chun.

    Reports said the sticking point to ink a deal centers on the volume and timing about the energy aid to the DPRK.

    "There is definitely one issue preventing us from sealing the deal right now," said chief U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill Saturday.

    Envoys from host China, the DPRK, the United States, the ROK, Japan and Russia reconvened the talks on Thursday in Beijing in the wake of a 48-day recess.

    "I have met with Kim (Kim Kye-Gwan, top DPRK negotiator) before I came here...he said he had some ideas... Mr Kim said he will think about them," chief U.S envoy Christopher Hill told reporters after visiting an American art exhibition at the National Museum of China at his leisure Sunday afternoon.

    "There are some ideas they (the DPRK) are going to think about and respond to. So I think we will have ideas when we have a delegation meeting later this afternoon," Hill said.

    This was the first one-on-one consultation between Hill and Kimsince this phase of talks resumed on Thursday, although they were said to have lunch together on Friday.

    China held one-on-one talks with other five parties respectively on Sunday, according to the press center.

    Chief negotiators also had an-hour-long group meeting in the afternoon, without announcing the end of the talks.

    Top Chinese envoy Wu Dawei once said the talks would last three or four days.

    But the talks got blocked by the energy aid to the DPRK after the negotiators held consultations on a Chinese draft, which involves the moves the DPRK will take to abandon its nuclear program in return for economic aid and security guarantee.

    The draft reportedly proposes halting within two months work at nuclear sites in the DPRK, including the Yongbyon reactor, and supplying Pyongyang with alternative energy sources.

    "It seems the chances to reach a joint statement are slim," said Russian representative Alexander Losyukov.

    "If a joint statement can not be finally reached, there will be a chairman's statement," said Losyukov. "But that doesn't mean a failure."

    Losyukov said Saturday morning that the nuclear negotiations will end with a two-page joint statement.

    "The DPRK demanded too much on the compensation issue. It will be difficult to reach an agreement if it does not reconsider its demand," said Japanese negotiator Kenichiro Sasae on Sunday morning.

    The current situation remains severe, and it is "not optimistic" whether an agreement will be reached, Sasae said.

    However, Hill urged the talks to pick up pace and end on Sunday.

    Hill declined to say what the sticking point exactly is, but implied some issues should be discussed within working groups.

    "The issue of this kind is more appropriate for experts to deal with... that's why we have so many working groups," Hill said.