But he ran into obstacles from Asian officials who say their booming economies are not yet ready for freer trade.

European and Asian officials bet it will not.

The problem is that the key Asian officials are not thinking big enough.

But other Asian officials have quite a different fear: that the meeting will mainly be a photo opportunity with little follow-up.

"It was about an hour out of the capital, Khan says," according to one senior Asian official.

An Asian official said the North would have to pause for a moment before reversing course.

He immediately ran into obstacles from Asian officials who say the world's most booming economies are not yet ready for free-trade zones of their own.

What offer has Beijing made, according to Asian officials?

"When you add up the evidence, we have every reason to believe they've made two new weapons," a senior Asian official said.

"We all know they have the bones somewhere," an Asian official said.