ID :
12213
Fri, 07/11/2008 - 12:39
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/12213
The shortlink copeid
LEAD: 6-way envoys agree on need for mechanism to verify N. Korea report
BEIJING, July 11 Kyodo - Thursday to try to set up a mechanism to verify North Korea's declaration of its nuclear programs.
Specific verification methods will be discussed on Friday by a working group under the six-party framework grouping North and South Korea, the UnitedStates, China, Japan and Russia, U.S. envoy Christopher Hill said.
''We had a detailed discussion about principles of'' the verification regime in Thursday's meeting, said Hill, assistant secretary of state for East Asian andPacific affairs.
''But how those principles actually work, that will be (discussed) when thedenuclearization working group meets,'' Hill told reporters.
The principles of verification discussed on Thursday include access to North Korea's nuclear facilities and additional documents on Pyongyang's nuclearprograms, as well as interviews with people related to the nuclear plans.
The monitoring mechanism will also apply to the other five parties' obligations under their deal, in which North Korea takes denuclearization steps in exchangefor economic and diplomatic benefits, diplomats said.
''We basically agreed on the need to create a mechanism to monitor the implementation of each party's obligations in the six-party talks,'' Akitaka Saiki, head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian AffairsBureau, told reporters separately.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei said earlier in the day that preliminary consultations had shown that there were still differences over the ways tocheck North Korea's nuclear report.
''Views are not unified. There is still a need for talks. That is why we are holding a meeting,'' he told reporters shortly before the start of the talks atthe Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in the late afternoon.
A stalemate in the six-way talks ended last month when North Korea submitted a list of its nuclear programs six months after the initial deadline. The delaywas due to a dispute over what should be included in the document.
The specific contents of the declaration -- including how many kilograms ofweapons-grade plutonium Pyongyang has produced -- have yet to be made public.
In response to the submission of the list, the United States announced it was taking steps to remove North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism and was lifting application of the Trading with the Enemy Act, bothlong-standing demands of Pyongyang.
Subsequently, on June 27, Pyongyang blew up a cooling tower attached to its Yongbyon nuclear reactor in a symbolic move aimed at underscoring itscommitment to a six-way denuclearization deal.
The talks held on Thursday were the first six-way talks on North Korea'snuclear programs in nine months.
South Korea's envoy Kim Sook said that in addition to the monitoring mechanism, the parties agreed to advance discussions on three other topics -- economic and energy aid for Pyongyang, the scheduling of the six parties' foreign ministerial meeting and how to move into the next phase of North Korea'sdenuclearization.
The third step involves North Korea's abandonment of its nuclear facilities andmaterials.
==Kyodo
Specific verification methods will be discussed on Friday by a working group under the six-party framework grouping North and South Korea, the UnitedStates, China, Japan and Russia, U.S. envoy Christopher Hill said.
''We had a detailed discussion about principles of'' the verification regime in Thursday's meeting, said Hill, assistant secretary of state for East Asian andPacific affairs.
''But how those principles actually work, that will be (discussed) when thedenuclearization working group meets,'' Hill told reporters.
The principles of verification discussed on Thursday include access to North Korea's nuclear facilities and additional documents on Pyongyang's nuclearprograms, as well as interviews with people related to the nuclear plans.
The monitoring mechanism will also apply to the other five parties' obligations under their deal, in which North Korea takes denuclearization steps in exchangefor economic and diplomatic benefits, diplomats said.
''We basically agreed on the need to create a mechanism to monitor the implementation of each party's obligations in the six-party talks,'' Akitaka Saiki, head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian AffairsBureau, told reporters separately.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei said earlier in the day that preliminary consultations had shown that there were still differences over the ways tocheck North Korea's nuclear report.
''Views are not unified. There is still a need for talks. That is why we are holding a meeting,'' he told reporters shortly before the start of the talks atthe Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in the late afternoon.
A stalemate in the six-way talks ended last month when North Korea submitted a list of its nuclear programs six months after the initial deadline. The delaywas due to a dispute over what should be included in the document.
The specific contents of the declaration -- including how many kilograms ofweapons-grade plutonium Pyongyang has produced -- have yet to be made public.
In response to the submission of the list, the United States announced it was taking steps to remove North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism and was lifting application of the Trading with the Enemy Act, bothlong-standing demands of Pyongyang.
Subsequently, on June 27, Pyongyang blew up a cooling tower attached to its Yongbyon nuclear reactor in a symbolic move aimed at underscoring itscommitment to a six-way denuclearization deal.
The talks held on Thursday were the first six-way talks on North Korea'snuclear programs in nine months.
South Korea's envoy Kim Sook said that in addition to the monitoring mechanism, the parties agreed to advance discussions on three other topics -- economic and energy aid for Pyongyang, the scheduling of the six parties' foreign ministerial meeting and how to move into the next phase of North Korea'sdenuclearization.
The third step involves North Korea's abandonment of its nuclear facilities andmaterials.
==Kyodo
