Envoys Cite Progress in Talks on North Korea's Nuclear Programs
By VOA News
11 July 2008
Envoys to talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons programs say they are making progress in negotiating a plan to verify Pyongyang's recently disclosed nuclear declaration.
China and South Korea's top negotiators say Friday's talks in Beijing moved the sides closer to agreement on how elements of the nuclear list - which includes details on the North's nuclear facilities and activities - will be verified.
Negotiators say envoys also discussed economic and energy aid for the North during the talks.
Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the chief U.S. envoy to the talks, did not speak with reporters after Friday's discussions.
After the first day of talks on Thursday, he said negotiators agreed to the basic mechanisms of verification - including visiting sites, examining documents and interviewing officials.
North Korea says it has only received 40 percent of the energy aid the other parties pledged to provide in exchange for disablement.
Pyongyang threatened last week not to participate in further negotiations until the rest of the nearly one million tons of heavy fuel oil is delivered.
Japan has opted out of contributing, citing a lack of progress in resolving a dispute over North Korea's abduction of Japanese citizens.
Disarmament talks with North Korea resumed Thursday after a nine month pause. The United States, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia agreed to resume negotiations after Pyongyang handed over a list of its nuclear facilities in late June.
Pyongyang has also taken steps to dismantle its main nuclear complex at Yongbyon, including the destruction of the plutonium-enrichment facility's cooling tower.
But Washington says North Korea is hiding a secret uranium enrichment program and may have several nuclear facilities.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
