Global General

Special

Newsmaker

Asia Pacific

America

Middle East

Europe

Africa

Six-party nuke talks lead to agreement

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-07-12 17:01

Envoys to the six party talks on Korean Peninsular nuclear issue pose in Beijing July 12, 2008. (L-R) Japanese envoy Akitaka Saiki, South Korean envoy Kim Sook, DPRK envoy Kim Kye-gwan, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, Russian envoy Alexei Borodavkin and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei. [Agencies]

Beijing - Negotiators from six nations have agreed on steps to verify Korean Peninsular denuclearization, opening the final phase in efforts to rid the Pyongyang of nuclear weapons.

US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill (L) and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei (C) talk as they leave the closing session of six party talks on the Korean Peninsular nuclear issue at the state guesthouse in Beijing July 12, 2008. [Agencies]

The agreement, reached Saturday after three days of talks, mapped out a timetable for economic and energy assistance along with the disablement of the Yongbyon nuclear facilities, stressing the disablement and assistance should go "in parallel".

It said the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) would work to finish disabling its biggest nuclear facility by the end of October 2008. The United States and Russia will provide the remaining heavy fuel oil (HFO) assistance to the DPRK before the same time.

China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) will sign binding agreements with the DPRK for the non-HFO assistance by the end of August 2008.

Beyond that, the envoys agreed to a robust verification team of experts who will visit DPRK nuclear facilities, review its documents and interview its technical experts, said a press communique read out by China's envoy, Wu Dawei, at the end of the meeting.

Some specifics of the verification remained to be worked out, but experts and diplomats from the six nations hoped to agree on those steps by early September, said US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill.

"We would like the protocol to be reached within 45 days and secondly to begin verification within 45 days. We're anticipating that and we don't see any obstacles," Hill told reporters after the talks.

The agreement, if not yet complete, signals the start of the final phase of the yearslong negotiations to get Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Beyond the October deadline for disabling its main facility at Yongbyon, the agreement did not set a timetable for full disarmament. But the administration of US President George W. Bush is believed to be eager to see DPRK disarmed before Bush leaves office in January.

The agreement also allows the nuclear inspectors to draw on the expertise of the International Atomic Energy Agency to help in verification.

Earlier Saturday, the US envoy said negotiators wanted verification measures of the kind used in other countries.

US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill (2nd L) talks to Japanese envoy Akitaka Saikiin (L), Russian envoy Alexei Borodavkin (2nd R) and South Korean envoy Kim Sook (R) as they wait for DPRK envoy in Beijing July 12, 2008. [Agencies]

"We're not asking for anything unusual. We're asking for things that are done all over the world. We want a basically standard kind of package on how you verify this type of nuclear program," Hill said.

In response to DPRK's nuclear declaration, the United States announced it would remove the country from a list of state sponsors of terrorism and relax some economic sanctions against it. DPRK blew up the cooling tower at Yongbyon and allowed TV broadcasts of the event.

The steps paved the way for the resumption of the six-nation meetings, which also includes Japan, Russia and South Korea. Those talks had been on hold since last October.

The nuclear standoff began in late 2002 when the US accused Pyongyang of seeking to secretly enrich uranium in violation of a 1994 disarmament deal.