N.Korea nuclear talks appear to secure breakthrough

CHINA: Marathon talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons drive appeared to secure a major breakthrough on Tuesday with a joint agreement on first steps towards disarmament, envoys said.

However, the deal still needed final approval from the governments of each of the six nations involved - host China, the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia - and could yet fall apart, they warned.

Following 16 hours of gruelling negotiations here that finished at 2:00 am on Tuesday envoys said China had circulated a draft joint statement outlining the initial actions Pyongyang would take to end its nuclear drive and the economic rewards it would receive in return.

US chief envoy Christopher Hill described the draft agreement as "excellent", and said he hoped China would be able to release a confirmed accord following one final round of meetings on Tuesday.

While Hill and other envoys did not specify the details, they made it clear that North Korea - one of the world's poorest nations - would be given rich incentives in terms of oil and other energy aid if it began disarming.

"North Korea will get rewarded... as it moves towards the dismantling of its nuclear programmes," South Korean negotiator Chun Yung-Woo said.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the deal involved North Korea disabling its five-megawatt Yongbyon nuclear reactor and other atomic facilities within the next two months. In return it would receive alternative energy equivalent to one million tonnes of heavy fuel oil each year, Yonhap reported.

South Korea's Chun said North Korean envoy Kim Kye-Gwan had agreed to all the details in the joint statement ahead of China circulating it for final approval.

"We, the delegates, have agreed on the initial steps for North Korea to take for its denuclearisation," Chun told reporters.

"North Korea has agreed to the wording and all the figures stipulated in it."

Beijing, Tuesday, AFP