Mao
02-05-2007, 05:45 AM
NKorea ready to freeze nuclear facility in exchange for reactors, energy aid (http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=341bd53b-aee1-4f60-8410-4706078e647d&k=87188)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea is ready to freeze its main nuclear facility and ultimately dismantle its nuclear program but only in exchange for energy assistance, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper reported Monday.
North Korea has told other countries involved in the nuclear talks that it could freeze the reactor at its nuclear complex in Yongbyon and accept International Atomic Energy Agency inspections, according to the Choson Sinbo, a Korean-language newspaper based in Japan that has links to the Pyongyang government.
The communist North's willingness to shut down the reactor "is based on the premise that it will be dismantled," the report said, citing a diplomatic source close to six-nation nuclear talks that are set to resume Thursday in Beijing.
However, North Korea "will begin its actions when the right conditions are created," the Choson Sinbo report said, referring to the North's demand that light-water reactors - a type more difficult to be converted for military purpose - be provided in return for disarmament.
The North should also be provided with "substitute energy" until the reactors are built, according to the report.
On Sunday, Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported the North plans to demand more than 453,600 tonnes of crude oil a year in exchange for shutting down it nuclear reactor and allowing limited IAEA inspections. The report cited Joel Wit, a former U.S. State Department official who met chief North Korean arms negotiator Kim Kye Gwan and other senior officials in Pyongyang.
The reports come ahead of intensified diplomacy ahead of the resumption of international talks on the North Korean nuclear program, which also include China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States.
U.S. envoy Christopher Hill said in Seoul on Sunday that North Korea must fulfil its pledge to fully dismantle its nuclear program.
"Frankly, we cannot accept anything less than 100 per cent implementation of the September statement," he said referring to a 2005 pledge in which the North agreed to give up its nuclear program in exchange for aid and security guarantees. "The ultimate task for us is to complete denuclearization."
Hill is to travel to Japan later Monday.
There has been increased optimism lately that concrete progress can be made at the next round of nuclear negotiations, with officials saying enough goodwill has been created between the United States and North Korea over a financial dispute that has been a stumbling block to the disarmament talks.
North Korea has strongly protested the U.S. campaign to sever the communist country's access to the international financial system for alleged counterfeiting and money laundering.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea is ready to freeze its main nuclear facility and ultimately dismantle its nuclear program but only in exchange for energy assistance, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper reported Monday.
North Korea has told other countries involved in the nuclear talks that it could freeze the reactor at its nuclear complex in Yongbyon and accept International Atomic Energy Agency inspections, according to the Choson Sinbo, a Korean-language newspaper based in Japan that has links to the Pyongyang government.
The communist North's willingness to shut down the reactor "is based on the premise that it will be dismantled," the report said, citing a diplomatic source close to six-nation nuclear talks that are set to resume Thursday in Beijing.
However, North Korea "will begin its actions when the right conditions are created," the Choson Sinbo report said, referring to the North's demand that light-water reactors - a type more difficult to be converted for military purpose - be provided in return for disarmament.
The North should also be provided with "substitute energy" until the reactors are built, according to the report.
On Sunday, Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported the North plans to demand more than 453,600 tonnes of crude oil a year in exchange for shutting down it nuclear reactor and allowing limited IAEA inspections. The report cited Joel Wit, a former U.S. State Department official who met chief North Korean arms negotiator Kim Kye Gwan and other senior officials in Pyongyang.
The reports come ahead of intensified diplomacy ahead of the resumption of international talks on the North Korean nuclear program, which also include China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States.
U.S. envoy Christopher Hill said in Seoul on Sunday that North Korea must fulfil its pledge to fully dismantle its nuclear program.
"Frankly, we cannot accept anything less than 100 per cent implementation of the September statement," he said referring to a 2005 pledge in which the North agreed to give up its nuclear program in exchange for aid and security guarantees. "The ultimate task for us is to complete denuclearization."
Hill is to travel to Japan later Monday.
There has been increased optimism lately that concrete progress can be made at the next round of nuclear negotiations, with officials saying enough goodwill has been created between the United States and North Korea over a financial dispute that has been a stumbling block to the disarmament talks.
North Korea has strongly protested the U.S. campaign to sever the communist country's access to the international financial system for alleged counterfeiting and money laundering.