Six-way talks on NK nuke unlikely this month: U.S. negotiator

TOKYO, Oct. 19 (Yonhap) -- Chief U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill said the six-way talks on the North Korean nuclear program are unlikely to be held within the month, a Japanese newspaper reported Sunday.

In the interview with the Asahi Shimbun, Hill cited troubles in setting a date
for the next round of negotiations due to the tight schedules of the U.S. and
other related nations -- North Korea, South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan.
Hill's comments dashed some countries' hopes of resuming the six-way talks this
month, which were buoyed by a deal reached earlier this month on verifying
Pyongyang's nuclear claims. In return, the communist nation was removed from the
U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
South Korea's main nuclear negotiator said earlier that he wanted the talks to be
reconvened at an early date. Host China also proposed that the talks be resumed
this month. The last round was held in July.
Hill did not say when the talks would be held again, but he said ways of
dismantling the North's atomic weapons will be discussed in the next round, the
newspaper said.
He defended the verification deal, which is unpopular among hard-liners in
Washington, who view the Bush administration as making too many concessions to
Pyongyang.
Under the compromise, the North will allow international inspections on all sites
included in its June nuclear declaration, but the other ones only upon "mutual
consent."
Hill expressed confidence that the U.S. will be able to check the exact amount of
weapons-grade plutonium the North has produced if agreed-upon scientific
verification methods are used.
He told Asahi that the verification of the plutonium stockpile is the most
important factor, as it determines the number of atomic bombs, adding it can be
verified through the analysis of the operational records of the Yongbyon reactor
and the sampling of nuclear materials.
In regard to rampant rumors of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's health, the
envoy, who visited Pyongyang from Oct. 1-3, said there seemed to be a problem.
The North tentatively cut contact with the U.S. since mid-August, when Kim
disappeared from public view, he added, but Pyongyang started to give responses
since late September in a possible sign that the North Korea's all-powerful
leader is still in control of his country.
South Korean intelligence officials said Kim had suffered a stroke in the middle
of August and underwent brain surgery by foreign doctors. They said the
66-year-old was recuperating from the latest illness.
Meanwhile, North Korea has ordered its diplomats abroad to be on standby for a
"grave announcement" that could be about Kim's health or its relations with South
Korea, the Yomiuri Shimbun said, citing unidentified sources.
(END)