North Korea has apparently rejected nuclear sampling as part of a program to verify the scope of its atomic activities, Kyodo News reported today (see GSN, Nov. 5).
(Nov. 6) -
North Korea has released more photos of leader Kim Jong Il, perhaps to refute rumors that he has been seriously ill (Getty Images).
After another near-breakdown of the denuclearization process, the United States said last month that Pyongyang had agreed to a verification protocol by outside experts that involved “scientific procedures, including sampling and forensic activities.” In return, the Bush administration removed North Korea from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
However, North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun on Oct. 15 told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that sampling would not be allowed, sources said. Also, no material discovered during verification could be removed from North Korea, Pak added.
His statement seemingly led Beijing to slow its efforts to convene another full meeting of the nations involved in the six-party talks on the nuclear issue — China, Japan, Russia, the United States and both Koreas. Diplomats expected at the session to produce a document setting out the details of verification.
While Pyongyang and Washington intended to hedge in writing their sampling agreement, Tokyo wants it to be addressed explicitly in the document, Kyodo reported.
Verification would be the next step in the process intended to strip North Korea of its nuclear sector and weapons in exchange for economic, diplomatic and security benefits (Kyodo News, Nov. 6).
Meanwhile, North Korea’s official news agency reported today that regime leader Kim Jong Il attended a concert. Pyongyang has issued three reports in recent days apparently intended to counter reports that Kim was in poor health after suffering a stroke in August and undergoing brain surgery, the Associated Press reported.
Kim’s health problems coincided with North Korea’s temporary halt and reversal of disablement of facilities at its Yongbyon nuclear complex. The nation resumed work after being taken off the terrorism list.
“I think this is a message to the United States," said professor Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. "The message appears to be that: 'I make decisions on relations with the United States, the nuclear standoff and everything. I'm in control and I'm ready to have direct talks with"' U.S. President-elect Barack Obama (Jae-Soon Chang, Associated Press/USA Today, Nov. 6).