Nuclear negotiators from Japan, South Korea and the United States today said they intend next week to press their North Korean counterpart for details on how the Stalinist state plans to move ahead with dismantling its nuclear sector, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Dec. 2).
(Dec. 3) -
Nuclear envoys Kim Sook (South Korea), Akitaka Saiki (Japan) and Christopher Hill (U.S.) meet reporters today in Tokyo (Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images).
Pyongyang signed an agreement last year that calls for denuclearization in exchange for various concessions from China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States. It has received a portion of the energy aid promised under the deal and has been removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. In turn, North Korea has moved to disable several key facilities, but has also balked repeatedly on several matters.
Most recently, Pyongyang has denied agreeing in October to allowing collection of nuclear samples as part of an outside verification of its atomic activities and has opposed putting the verification plan in writing.
That stance is not acceptable, according to the envoys from Seoul, Tokyo and Washington, who met today in Japan.
"There should be no room for misunderstanding or distortion when we actually begin verification," Japanese nuclear negotiator Akitaka Saiki said following talks with U.S. diplomat Christopher Hill and South Korean envoy Kim Sook.
"We will make an effort to complete North Korea's denuclearization," Kim said (Agence France-Presse I/Spacewar.com, Dec. 3).
Hill was to travel after the meeting to Singapore, where he was expected to meet tomorrow with North Korean negotiator Kim Kye Gwan, who arrived yesterday on the island, AFP reported (Agence France-Presse II/Spacewar.com, Dec. 3).
"The significance of this [meeting] is for (North Korea and the U.S.) to meet ahead of the six-way talks to consider and agree on issues and make it a basis for discussions" at the next round of six-nation talks, which is expected to begin Monday, Kim said.
Kim and Hill are expected to discuss the sampling issue along with putting the verification protocol in writing, Kyodo News reported (Kyodo News I/Breitbart.com, Dec. 2).
"My concern is not so much the protocol. My concern is getting to the actual verification process and not having ... disagreements where the North Koreans tell us, 'No, we never agreed to that,'" Hill said before leaving Tokyo.
The assistant secretary of state said he did not believe that the ongoing diplomatic effort would be revamped significantly under the incoming Obama administration, Kyodo reported.
"I can't speak for President [Barack] Obama because I don't think he's addressed this issue yet, but I don't know of any reason to expect any big changes in it," Hill said (Kyodo News II/Breitbart.com, Dec. 3).
A bipartisan commission established by the U.S. Congress said this week that North Korean denuclearization should remain a priority for the Obama administration, the Yonhap News Agency reported.
"As a top priority, the next administration must stop the Iranian and North Korean nuclear weapons programs," according to the report by the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism. "In the case of North Korea, this requires the complete abandonment and dismantlement of all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs" (see GSN, Dec. 2).
Meanwhile, Seoul and Washington are looking to Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and nations in northern Europe for funding needed to provide North Korea with the full 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil and associated energy assistance, Kyodo reported. The support would fill in the gap left by Japan, which has refused to provide its 200,000-ton pledge until it believes Pyongyang has fully established the status of all Japanese citizens abducted in past decades.
A funding plan is expected to be discussed at next week's meeting. However, participants do not expect yet to identify the specific nations that would be involved by that time.
North Korea has received 55 percent of the energy assistance. It has slowed the pace of nuclear disablement while awaiting a set schedule for delivery of additional assistance, Kyodo reported (Kyodo News III/Breitbart.com, Dec. 3).