Barack Obama will have become U.S. president before North Korea completes disablement of key facilities at its plutonium-producing Yongbyon nuclear complex, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Saturday (see GSN, Nov. 14).
(Nov. 17) -
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak discussed North Korean denuclearization with aides to U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on Friday (Chung Sung-jun/Getty Images).
North Korea had been due to finish the process by the end of last month under its 2007 denuclearization agreement with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States. That would have led to the third and final phase, full dismantlement of its nuclear program.
However, the regime has indicated that it slowed disablement activities to express its displeasure at the rate at which it is receiving the promised 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil and related assistance from the other nations. Work now will continue past the Jan. 20 inauguration day ceremony in Washington, according to one high-level State Department official.
No new timetable has been set for disablement but continued progress is crucial, the official said.
Japan has refused to provide its portion of the energy assistance. Russia and the United States might instead provide the 200,000 tons of oil; Washington has also discussed having other nations, such as Australia, step in with aid.
That portion of the energy assistance would not come before February budget talks in Washington, according to the official (Satoshi Ogawa, Yomiuri Shimbun, Nov. 15).
Meanwhile, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and high-level advisers to Obama discussed the North Korean nuclear situation on Friday during a meeting in Washington, the Korea Herald reported.
Lee was in the U.S. capital for the Group of 20 meeting on the global economy. His visit also included talks with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Representative Jim Leach.
"President Lee met with Albright and Leach for about 30 minutes to exchange views on various issues of mutual interest," said presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan. "The meeting took place at the request of the Obama camp and we agreed not to disclose details of their discussions."
The South Korean leader also conducted talks through the Brookings Institution with other Obama foreign policy and security advisers, the Herald reported (Korea Herald, Nov. 17).
Lee said yesterday he saw no problem with Obama meeting directly with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, the Associated Press reported.
Such talks "would be a good thing" if they helped promote nuclear disarmament in North Korea, said Lee, who has taken a harder stand on relations with Pyongyang than his predecessors.
Obama has said he would consider meeting with Kim as part of a program of direct diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington (Associated Press I/Yahoo!News, Nov. 17).
Elsewhere, North Korean state media reported additional public appearances by Kim, in another seeming effort to refute reports that he was in poor health after suffering one or more strokes in recent months. The report did not indicate the time or place of Kim's appearances, which were said to involve watching military performances, AP reported (Associated Press II/Washington Post, Nov. 16).