ID :
13425
Tue, 07/22/2008 - 23:36
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/13425
The shortlink copeid
Nuclear envoys meet ahead of N. Korea ministerial talks
SINGAPORE, July 22 Kyodo - Nuclear negotiators involved in talks on denuclearizing North Korea held a series of meetings in Singapore on Tuesday, laying the groundwork for the first ministerial meeting of the six-party process to be held on Wednesday.
The foreign ministers from North and South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia are set to hold the informal talks on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum, a security framework which their countries all belong to.
''I think they'll have a good discussion,'' top U.S. nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill told reporters at a Singapore hotel when asked about the outlook of Wednesday's meeting.
''I think they will probably talk about the verification regime, and maybe have a look at what the next stage is going to be,'' he said, after meeting separately with his Japanese, Russian and South Korean counterparts.
North Korea submitted a list of its nuclear programs last month, ending a six-month stalemate in the multilateral denuclearization talks, stemming from a row over what should be included in the report.
Following the submission, negotiators from the six countries agreed to set up a regime for checking information in the list, but have yet to agree on specifics such as who will visit nuclear sites carrying what kind of equipment.
Diplomats involved in the six-party talks have suggested that Wednesday's meeting will be more about boosting political momentum for the denuclearization-for-benefits process, rather than deciding on any specifics such as the verification scheme.
They say that the absence of nuclear negotiators from China, the chair of the six-way process, as well as North Korea from Singapore make it difficult for the countries to make progress on specific plans.
The ministerial talks will be ''very informal,'' said Hill, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs. ''They're just going to have a conversation.''South Korea's top nuclear negotiator Kim Sook indicated earlier in the day that the next move in the six-party process should come from North Korea, as others are waiting to hear from Pyongyang, which has received a proposal for ways to verify its nuclear report.
''The ball is actually in the North Korean court because they already received the draft (of the verification protocol),'' said the special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs for the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry.
Kim was believed to be referring to a verification plan presented to North Korea at a meeting of the six countries' chief negotiators in Beijing earlier this month.
The six countries also met at the ARF meeting in Manila last year, when they paid a courtesy call to Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. While most of the countries were represented by their foreign ministers in that meeting, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte had participated in the absence of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The foreign ministers from North and South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia are set to hold the informal talks on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum, a security framework which their countries all belong to.
''I think they'll have a good discussion,'' top U.S. nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill told reporters at a Singapore hotel when asked about the outlook of Wednesday's meeting.
''I think they will probably talk about the verification regime, and maybe have a look at what the next stage is going to be,'' he said, after meeting separately with his Japanese, Russian and South Korean counterparts.
North Korea submitted a list of its nuclear programs last month, ending a six-month stalemate in the multilateral denuclearization talks, stemming from a row over what should be included in the report.
Following the submission, negotiators from the six countries agreed to set up a regime for checking information in the list, but have yet to agree on specifics such as who will visit nuclear sites carrying what kind of equipment.
Diplomats involved in the six-party talks have suggested that Wednesday's meeting will be more about boosting political momentum for the denuclearization-for-benefits process, rather than deciding on any specifics such as the verification scheme.
They say that the absence of nuclear negotiators from China, the chair of the six-way process, as well as North Korea from Singapore make it difficult for the countries to make progress on specific plans.
The ministerial talks will be ''very informal,'' said Hill, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs. ''They're just going to have a conversation.''South Korea's top nuclear negotiator Kim Sook indicated earlier in the day that the next move in the six-party process should come from North Korea, as others are waiting to hear from Pyongyang, which has received a proposal for ways to verify its nuclear report.
''The ball is actually in the North Korean court because they already received the draft (of the verification protocol),'' said the special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs for the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry.
Kim was believed to be referring to a verification plan presented to North Korea at a meeting of the six countries' chief negotiators in Beijing earlier this month.
The six countries also met at the ARF meeting in Manila last year, when they paid a courtesy call to Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. While most of the countries were represented by their foreign ministers in that meeting, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte had participated in the absence of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
