N. Korea seeks light-water reactors in exchange for nuke verification

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TOKYO, March 19 Kyodo -
North Korea asked Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei last month for the
provision of light-water reactors to the country as a condition for accepting a
comprehensive verification procedure over its nuclear activities, sources close
to the six-party denuclearization talks said Thursday.
The request was made when Wu, chairman of the six-way talks, visited North
Korea in February to seek a breakthrough in the multilateral negotiations,
which have been stalled since December when they ended without progress due to
sharp differences over how to verify Pyongyang's nuclear information.
Prospects for arranging the next round of talks for the multilateral dialogue,
also involving Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States, have become
increasingly uncertain as North Korea effectively raised the hurdle for its
acceptance of verification measures.
China has informed governments concerned about North Korea's stance on the
matter, according to the sources.
Wu met with North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, the country's
chief delegate to the six-party talks, in Pyongyang in mid-February, according
to the sources.
Kim said North Korea would agree on a full-fledged verification of its nuclear
information if it is provided with the light-water reactors, the sources said.
North Korea is seeking two light-water reactors, according to a negotiation
source, who suggested it is virtually impossible for the United States to
accept further demands by North Korea after having removed the country from its
list of nations sponsoring terrorism last October.
Washington took the action after Pyongyang agreed orally to a series of
measures to verify its nuclear activities in bilateral talks.
In 1994, the United States and North Korea signed the Agreed Framework
requiring Pyongyang to freeze and eventually dismantle its weapons-grade
nuclear facilities in exchange for being provided with two light-water reactors
for power generation.
But an international consortium tasked with providing the reactors decided in
November 2003 to halt the construction project after the U.S. administration
effectively nullified the Agreed Framework due to suspicions that North Korea
was running a secret program to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons.
==Kyodo
2009-03-19 19:36:59