ID :
32404
Wed, 11/26/2008 - 09:41
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/32404
The shortlink copeid
U.S. arranging trilateral talks ahead of six-party talks: State Dept.
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Nov. 25 (Yonhap) -- The United States said Tuesday it is arranging a
trilateral meeting with South Korea and Japan to prepare for a fresh round of
six-party talks early next month to discuss how to verify North Korea's nuclear
facilities.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said, "I know we are trying to arrange a
trilat meeting, you know, before the six-party Heads of Delegation meeting."
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday that the fresh nuclear talks
will take place in Beijing on Dec. 8, but the Chinese government said the
scheduling is still flexible amid reports that North Korea and Russia have not
yet approved the Chinese proposal for the Dec. 8 meeting.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and his U.S. and Japanese counterpart,
George W. Bush and Taro Aso, agreed in Peru last week that they will hold the
next six-party talks in early December.
"The Chinese are, I believe, going to make the official announcement," Wood said.
"But my understanding is that it'll take place on December 8."
The spokesman said the U.S. has no immediate plans for a bilateral meeting with
North Korea before the resumption of the six-way talks stalled over the
verification of the North's nuclear facilities.
"There aren't any plans at this moment to have a bilat with North Korea," said Wood.
Wood said he expected the upcoming talks will address documentation of "those
understandings, along with assurances and clarifications that Assistant Secretary
Hill received in Pyongyang, have them codified in the six-party framework."
At issue is the verification protocol that Hill said he had agreed to with the
North Koreans in Pyongyang last month.
Hill said the North Koreans agreed to taking samples from their nuclear
facilities and allow access to undeclared nuclear facilities on mutual consent.
North Korea, however, has said that inspections are limited to visits to its
Yongbyon nuclear facilities alone, interviews of scientists and inspection of
documents, rebuffing Hill's claim on sampling and visits to undeclared sites.
North Korea also said any additional demand to the written agreement will be a
violation of its sovereignty, dashing U.S. hopes for documenting the sampling and
conditional visits to undeclared sites in further nuclear talks.
Hill discussed Sunday the current status of the sampling.
"We also, of course, need to have a clear and, frankly, something where there
will be no misunderstandings about the verification agreement."
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
WASHINGTON, Nov. 25 (Yonhap) -- The United States said Tuesday it is arranging a
trilateral meeting with South Korea and Japan to prepare for a fresh round of
six-party talks early next month to discuss how to verify North Korea's nuclear
facilities.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said, "I know we are trying to arrange a
trilat meeting, you know, before the six-party Heads of Delegation meeting."
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday that the fresh nuclear talks
will take place in Beijing on Dec. 8, but the Chinese government said the
scheduling is still flexible amid reports that North Korea and Russia have not
yet approved the Chinese proposal for the Dec. 8 meeting.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and his U.S. and Japanese counterpart,
George W. Bush and Taro Aso, agreed in Peru last week that they will hold the
next six-party talks in early December.
"The Chinese are, I believe, going to make the official announcement," Wood said.
"But my understanding is that it'll take place on December 8."
The spokesman said the U.S. has no immediate plans for a bilateral meeting with
North Korea before the resumption of the six-way talks stalled over the
verification of the North's nuclear facilities.
"There aren't any plans at this moment to have a bilat with North Korea," said Wood.
Wood said he expected the upcoming talks will address documentation of "those
understandings, along with assurances and clarifications that Assistant Secretary
Hill received in Pyongyang, have them codified in the six-party framework."
At issue is the verification protocol that Hill said he had agreed to with the
North Koreans in Pyongyang last month.
Hill said the North Koreans agreed to taking samples from their nuclear
facilities and allow access to undeclared nuclear facilities on mutual consent.
North Korea, however, has said that inspections are limited to visits to its
Yongbyon nuclear facilities alone, interviews of scientists and inspection of
documents, rebuffing Hill's claim on sampling and visits to undeclared sites.
North Korea also said any additional demand to the written agreement will be a
violation of its sovereignty, dashing U.S. hopes for documenting the sampling and
conditional visits to undeclared sites in further nuclear talks.
Hill discussed Sunday the current status of the sampling.
"We also, of course, need to have a clear and, frankly, something where there
will be no misunderstandings about the verification agreement."
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
