North Korea fully ready to end nuclear work
N.KOREA: North Korea is fully prepared to shut down its
nuclear facilities and allow inspections, a South Korean official said
in New York, where envoys from Pyongyang and Washington are set to begin
rare talks on improving ties.
North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan has been on a visit
to the United States since Thursday, becoming the highest-ranking
official to do so since 2000.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt about the North’s readiness to
execute the initial steps,” South Korean envoy Chun Yung-woo was quoted
as saying in New York, referring to measures Pyongyang has agreed to on
shutting down its nuclear activities.
“The North has agreed to the initial steps and has the intention to
fully do its part,” Chun was quoted as saying by South Korean media
after he met Kim at a hotel on Saturday.
Chun, South Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator, is accompanying Foreign
Minister Song Ming-soon’s visit to the United States.
Kim is scheduled to meet with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State
Christohper Hill on Monday to discuss improving ties.
It will be the highest-level meeting on U.S. soil since a top
military officer and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s special envoy, Jo
Myong-rok, visited Washington in 2000.
That was followed by U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s
visit to Pyongyang and eased tensions — until George W. Bush took office
in 2001 and labelled North Korea as part of an “axis of evil”.
In a breakthrough Feb. 13 agreement in Beijing, North Korea agreed
with South Korea, the United States, and three other countries to shut
down within 60 days its nuclear facilities and allow inspectors in
return for 50,000 tonnes of fuel oil.
Further steps to completely “disable” its nuclear weapons programme
will entitle the energy-strapped state to another 950,000 tonnes of oil
or other forms of aid of equivalent value.
North Korea is also set to hold similar discussions with Japan in
Hanoi next week, and separate meetings on energy aid are planned among
the six countries in the international talks, which are China, Russia
and Japan.
On Tuesday, International Atomic Energy Agency director Mohamed
ElBaradei will be in Pyongyang to discuss the mechanics of North Korea’s
deal to close down its nuclear programme and readmit inspectors from the
U.N. watchdog.
Seoul, Sunday, REUTERS |