Russia calls for constructive work at N. Korea nuke talks - envoy
16/07/2007 15:13 MOSCOW, July 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is calling for constructive work at the upcoming round of talks on North Korea's nuclear program, without dramatizing potential difficulties, a senior diplomat said Monday.
The six-party talks between North and South Korea, China, Russia, Japan and the United States are set to resume July 18 in Beijing to outline the next phase of ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program that has been subject of international concern for many years.
"We believe it is important to exercise patience, to avoid dramatizing possible difficulties and to make a concerted effort to achieve our mutual goal - the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula by peaceful means under [international] monitoring," Ambassador at Large Vladimir Rakhmanin, Russia's acting envoy to the six-party talks, told RIA Novosti.
Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, who arrived in Pyongyang over the weekend, confirmed Monday the shutdown by North Korea of its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of the capital as part of a disarmament deal reached in February.
The shutdown of the Yongbyon facilities is the first phase of the disarmament deal, which also envisions other economic and diplomatic incentives for the North, which conducted its first nuclear bomb test in October 2006.
Under the deal, the reclusive Communist regime will initially receive 50,000 metric tons of heavy fuel oil from its neighbor, South Korea. The U.S., Russia and China are to supply another 950,000 metric tons later on.
The Russian diplomat said the second phase would include the North providing information on all its nuclear programs, including its uranium enrichment, and shutting down all nuclear facilities.
"We are planning [during the next round of talks] to determine where we are in terms of implementing the first phase of the February 13 deal, and map out further steps for the second phase," Rakhmanin said.
So far, South Korea has sent a total of about 13,000 tons of heavy fuel oil to energy-starved North Korea, he said.
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