ID :
31938
Mon, 11/24/2008 - 10:00
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/31938
The shortlink copeid
S. Korean, U.S. set for pre-talk consultations
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korean and U.S. deputy nuclear envoys were to
hold a meeting on Monday to coordinate a strategy for progress in the
soon-to-be-resumed six-way talks on North Korean nuclear dismantlement,
officials said.
Sung Kim, the U.S. special envoy for the six-way talks, will fly into Seoul later
in the day and meet with Hwang Joon-kook, director general of the North Korean
nuclear affairs bureau at the South Korean foreign ministry.
"As the date for the new round of six-way talks has been almost fixed, we will
have in-depth discussions on ways to produce an agreement," Hwang told Yonhap
News Agency. "All of the pending issues will be discussed."
He was referring to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's announcement that
the Beijing-based talks will restart on Dec. 8 after a five-month break. The
comments followed President George W. Bush's summits in Peru with his
counterparts from South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan, all of which are members
of the talks. Host China has yet to make a formal announcement on the schedule.
Hwang said his consultations with Sung Kim will focus on ways of verifying the
North's June declaration of its nuclear assets, the main agenda at the new round.
North Korea and the U.S. reached a verbal deal on "scientific verification
procedures" in October but the agreement needs to be put in a six-way written
format.
The resumption of the negotiations will also give a boost to Bush's efforts to
wrap up the protracted second of the three-tier denuclearization process within
his term.
As second phase actions agreed last year, the North has been slowly disabling its
main nuclear facilities in Yongbyon in return for energy aid from its dialogue
parters.
In the new round of talks, the six parties will work on a concrete timetable to
complete the second stage, officials said.
They also plan to discuss who will replace Japan in the energy assistance, as
Tokyo has balked at the aid amid a row over Japanese civilians abducted by
Pyongyang in the 1970s and 1980s.
Australia and New Zealand are reportedly on the shortlist of possible outside
donors.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korean and U.S. deputy nuclear envoys were to
hold a meeting on Monday to coordinate a strategy for progress in the
soon-to-be-resumed six-way talks on North Korean nuclear dismantlement,
officials said.
Sung Kim, the U.S. special envoy for the six-way talks, will fly into Seoul later
in the day and meet with Hwang Joon-kook, director general of the North Korean
nuclear affairs bureau at the South Korean foreign ministry.
"As the date for the new round of six-way talks has been almost fixed, we will
have in-depth discussions on ways to produce an agreement," Hwang told Yonhap
News Agency. "All of the pending issues will be discussed."
He was referring to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's announcement that
the Beijing-based talks will restart on Dec. 8 after a five-month break. The
comments followed President George W. Bush's summits in Peru with his
counterparts from South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan, all of which are members
of the talks. Host China has yet to make a formal announcement on the schedule.
Hwang said his consultations with Sung Kim will focus on ways of verifying the
North's June declaration of its nuclear assets, the main agenda at the new round.
North Korea and the U.S. reached a verbal deal on "scientific verification
procedures" in October but the agreement needs to be put in a six-way written
format.
The resumption of the negotiations will also give a boost to Bush's efforts to
wrap up the protracted second of the three-tier denuclearization process within
his term.
As second phase actions agreed last year, the North has been slowly disabling its
main nuclear facilities in Yongbyon in return for energy aid from its dialogue
parters.
In the new round of talks, the six parties will work on a concrete timetable to
complete the second stage, officials said.
They also plan to discuss who will replace Japan in the energy assistance, as
Tokyo has balked at the aid amid a row over Japanese civilians abducted by
Pyongyang in the 1970s and 1980s.
Australia and New Zealand are reportedly on the shortlist of possible outside
donors.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)
