Hill says talks with N. Korea 'substantive'

SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) - U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill returned
to Seoul on Friday from two days of talks in North Korea aimed at saving an
unraveling disarmament deal with the reclusive communist nation.

Hill, who extended his stay in North Korea a day longer than planned,
called his meetings there were "very substantive."

Hill briefed his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, Kim Sook and
Akitaka Saiki, on his North Korean talks Friday evening.

He said his meeting with his North Korean counterpart Kim Gye Gwan was
lengthy and went into great detail.

Hill flies to Beijing on Saturday to brief his Chinese counterpart before
returning to the United States to brief Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Talks involving North Korea and five other nations - known as the
six-party talks - had come to an agreement on North Korea disabling its
Yongbyon nuclear reactor and reprocessing facilities that produced plutonium
for nuclear weapons.