Delegations from North Korea and five nations began two days of discussions on arrangements for providing energy aid to the communist country in recognition of the shutdown of its nuclear weapons program.
Officials from the U.S., Russia, China, Japan, South Korea and North Korea gathered at the peace village of Panmunjom, in the Korean peninsula's demilitarized zone, for their first talks since the North closed its Yongbyon reactor last month. The shutdown of the plant, agreed upon in February, was the result of talks by the six nations that began four years ago.
North Korea's envoys, led by Ambassador to the United Nations Kim Myong Gil, today made proposals for the promised 950,000 tons of heavy fuel oil and for investment in the communist nation, South Korea's deputy chief negotiator to the nuclear talks, Lim Sung Nam, told reporters after the discussions. Lim declined to provide details of the talks.
Issues to be resolved during the talks include North Korea's lack of oil-storage facilities, its demand for light-water reactors as part of the deal for dismantling its nuclear weapons program, and Japan's refusal to share in the cost of the energy assistance until the North accounts for Japanese citizens it kidnapped in the 1970s and 1980s.
North Korea agreed on Feb. 13 to close the reactor, which produced weapons-grade plutonium, and to eventually declare and disable all of its atomic programs in exchange for 1 million tons of fuel oil or the equivalent in economic aid. South Korea last month provided its impoverished neighbor with the initial shipment of 50,000 tons of fuel oil, which is used to generate heat or power.
No Timetable
The six nations failed to establish a timetable for declaring and disabling all of North Korea's nuclear programs when officials met in Beijing last month and instead agreed to meet in smaller groups to work out the remaining issues. The groups will cover energy and economic aid, denuclearization, northeast Asian security and North Korea's relations with the U.S. and Japan.
The representatives today held “businesslike and sincere consultations'' regarding the next phase of measures to be taken by North Korea as well as reciprocating measures by the remaining countries, Lim told reporters.
Ambassador Chun Yung Woo, South Korea's chief negotiator in the six-nation forum, presided over the talks in Panmunjom.
Sharing Burden
South Korea, the U.S., China and Russia agreed to equally share the burden of providing the oil and economic assistance to North Korea. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said last month that North Korea can currently only handle 50,000 tons per month.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in February the construction of a light-water reactor for North Korea could be discussed “only when the North Koreans have gotten back into good graces and fully dismantled'' their nuclear programs.
The working group talks will be held by the end of this month, according to an agreement reached in Beijing in July.
They aim to define disablement, set a timetable for North Korea to declare what nuclear materials it holds, detail the delivery of the fuel oil and what qualifies as an energy equivalent, and work toward a normalization of North Korea's ties with South Korea, the U.S. and Japan.
The U.S. State Department said yesterday that the next round of six-nation talks may be held in early September, in line with comments made by Wu Dawei, China's chief negotiator, last month.
“China is willing to strengthen dialogue and coordination with all parties to maintain the present positive momentum,'' the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said in a statement on its Web site late yesterday.
