ID :
32493
Wed, 11/26/2008 - 15:21
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/32493
The shortlink copeid
Sampling core part of verification deal with N. Korea: U.S. official
By Lee Chi-dong
JEJU ISLAND, South Korea, Nov. 26 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. State Department's top official on nuclear verification stressed Wednesday that sampling should be guaranteed in a six-party agreement on ways to assess Pyongyang's nuclear capability.
Paula DeSutter, assistant secretary of state for verification, compliance, and
implementation, hinted, however, at some flexibility in the format, saying, "it
is not unusual for us to have a primary document with common understandings and a
secondary document."
"Sampling is a very normal part of many arms control agreements, especially on
nuclear programs," she said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency. "And
obviously, analysis happens not on site but back at laboratories specially
designed to do the work."
DeSutter, on a trip here to attend a U.N. disarmament seminar, said she will
dispatch one of her senior staff to the upcoming six-way talks on the North
Korean nuclear issue to ensure that sampling will be included in the verification
protocol.
"I called Chris Hill and said I would like to send my office director for nuclear
affairs to the next heads of delegation meeting. He was perfectly fine with
that," she said, referring to the U.S.'s chief nuclear envoy.
DeSutter took her post in 2002. Her bureau has led Washington's assistance role
in nuclear dismantlement of Libya who voluntarily eliminated its weapons of mass
destruction programs and long-range missiles. The U.S. cites Libya as a role
model for North Korea.
Her office was not involved in the bilateral negotiations between Seoul and
Washington on verification measures involving North Korea.
"The verification bureau did not know what was agreed. But I think the problem of
the past is probably past. Life is too short to look back. I think our focus is
getting the job done," she said.
Whether international inspectors should be allowed to take samples from soil and
nuclear waste is expected to be the main sticking point in the next round of
six-way talks, which are expected to open in Beijing early next month.
The U.S. says North Korea agreed to a set of scientific verification methods
during Hill's trip to Pyongyang in early October, but the North claims that the
agreement does not include the collection of samples.
"The truth is that provisions for sampling are agreed," DeSutter said. "It is
unfortunate for them that they are stuck on a word. If you don't have the word
'sampling' in the primary document, you can probably do something that is all
right from a verification prospective so long as a secondary document is also
equally binding."
She was optimistic over a verification deal at the new round of six-way talks --
which also involve South Korea, Russia, China, and Japan -- but said this is just
the beginning of a rough and lengthy process.
"The verification protocol is a basic statement of the parties' rights and
obligations. Even if the North Koreans explicitly agreed to sampling and
protocol, people shouldn't be under the impression that it will solve
verification problems," she said. "Sampling is a critical tool but it is not the
solution to the verification challenges that are very widespread."
She emphasized that the verification will be jointly conducted by the five
nations with the help of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), adding
Russia's role is especially important.
"I think that having the Russians right by our side will be very important to
demonstrate to North Korea that this isn't because they are North Korea," she
said. "The U.S. and Russia have more experience together in terms of conducting
arms control inspections, usually on each other."
DeSutter dismissed worries over the implementation by the incoming Obama
administration of a deal by the Bush government.
"One of the little recognized facts is that Sen. Joe Biden, soon to become
Vice-President Biden, was one of the two co-sponsors of the legislation that
created the verification bureau," she said. "I am also sure that the core
elements in our bureau's expertise and experience is going to remain strong."
JEJU ISLAND, South Korea, Nov. 26 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. State Department's top official on nuclear verification stressed Wednesday that sampling should be guaranteed in a six-party agreement on ways to assess Pyongyang's nuclear capability.
Paula DeSutter, assistant secretary of state for verification, compliance, and
implementation, hinted, however, at some flexibility in the format, saying, "it
is not unusual for us to have a primary document with common understandings and a
secondary document."
"Sampling is a very normal part of many arms control agreements, especially on
nuclear programs," she said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency. "And
obviously, analysis happens not on site but back at laboratories specially
designed to do the work."
DeSutter, on a trip here to attend a U.N. disarmament seminar, said she will
dispatch one of her senior staff to the upcoming six-way talks on the North
Korean nuclear issue to ensure that sampling will be included in the verification
protocol.
"I called Chris Hill and said I would like to send my office director for nuclear
affairs to the next heads of delegation meeting. He was perfectly fine with
that," she said, referring to the U.S.'s chief nuclear envoy.
DeSutter took her post in 2002. Her bureau has led Washington's assistance role
in nuclear dismantlement of Libya who voluntarily eliminated its weapons of mass
destruction programs and long-range missiles. The U.S. cites Libya as a role
model for North Korea.
Her office was not involved in the bilateral negotiations between Seoul and
Washington on verification measures involving North Korea.
"The verification bureau did not know what was agreed. But I think the problem of
the past is probably past. Life is too short to look back. I think our focus is
getting the job done," she said.
Whether international inspectors should be allowed to take samples from soil and
nuclear waste is expected to be the main sticking point in the next round of
six-way talks, which are expected to open in Beijing early next month.
The U.S. says North Korea agreed to a set of scientific verification methods
during Hill's trip to Pyongyang in early October, but the North claims that the
agreement does not include the collection of samples.
"The truth is that provisions for sampling are agreed," DeSutter said. "It is
unfortunate for them that they are stuck on a word. If you don't have the word
'sampling' in the primary document, you can probably do something that is all
right from a verification prospective so long as a secondary document is also
equally binding."
She was optimistic over a verification deal at the new round of six-way talks --
which also involve South Korea, Russia, China, and Japan -- but said this is just
the beginning of a rough and lengthy process.
"The verification protocol is a basic statement of the parties' rights and
obligations. Even if the North Koreans explicitly agreed to sampling and
protocol, people shouldn't be under the impression that it will solve
verification problems," she said. "Sampling is a critical tool but it is not the
solution to the verification challenges that are very widespread."
She emphasized that the verification will be jointly conducted by the five
nations with the help of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), adding
Russia's role is especially important.
"I think that having the Russians right by our side will be very important to
demonstrate to North Korea that this isn't because they are North Korea," she
said. "The U.S. and Russia have more experience together in terms of conducting
arms control inspections, usually on each other."
DeSutter dismissed worries over the implementation by the incoming Obama
administration of a deal by the Bush government.
"One of the little recognized facts is that Sen. Joe Biden, soon to become
Vice-President Biden, was one of the two co-sponsors of the legislation that
created the verification bureau," she said. "I am also sure that the core
elements in our bureau's expertise and experience is going to remain strong."
