ID :
35098
Thu, 12/11/2008 - 16:15
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/35098
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(LEAD) Stalled talks likely to end without deal
BEIJING, Dec. 11 (Yonhap) -- Veteran negotiators at this week's six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear program risked going back home without a deal Thursday in what is likely the last chance for the Bush administration to save a troubled aid-for-denuclearization agreement signed last year.
Host China called a plenary session at 9 a.m. (Beijing time) on Thursday at
Daioyutai State Guest House, which may conclude the talks, South Korean delegates
said. There are no signs that progress has been made towards agreeing on ways of
inspecting Pyongyang's nuclear facilities.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi plans to meet with top nuclear envoys from
North Korea and its five dialogue partners one hour later. The foreign minister
usually holds a group meeting with the delegates before ending a six-way session.
Pyongyang refused to allow international inspectors to take samples from soil and
waste at its nuclear sites for analysis at foreign laboratories, according to
South Korean envoy Kim Sook.
"There are several core contents in a (planned) verification protocol, especially
scientific procedures including sampling. North Korea said it can't accept that.
It gave fundamental and comprehensive reasons," Kim told reporters Wednesday
night after the third day of the session.
North Korea, which conducted an underground nuclear test in 2006, reiterated its
claim that it is a nuclear state, he said, although the international community
does not recognize it as such.
Documenting detailed verification methods is a key goal in this week's six-way
talks, which also involve the U.S., China, Russia and Japan.
Christopher Hill, Washington's representative to the talks, also said no progress
has been made.
"We have not achieved our goal," he said. "It's not trending in the right
direction."
The comments by Kim and Hill raised the possibility that the talks, which were
originally supposed to end Wednesday, will finish without any significant deal.
The South Korean negotiator said he doubted that China will present a modified
draft of a verification protocol, saying differences remain too wide.
A stalemate on the verification issue will also affect negotiations on the other
main agenda items, which include a timetable for completing the North's disabling
of its Yongbyon nuclear reactor and the delivery of energy aid by its dialogue
partners.
South Korea said it has pushed for a package deal. "The issues of verification
and energy assistance are comprehensively connected," Kim, its envoy, said
earlier.
Host China called a plenary session at 9 a.m. (Beijing time) on Thursday at
Daioyutai State Guest House, which may conclude the talks, South Korean delegates
said. There are no signs that progress has been made towards agreeing on ways of
inspecting Pyongyang's nuclear facilities.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi plans to meet with top nuclear envoys from
North Korea and its five dialogue partners one hour later. The foreign minister
usually holds a group meeting with the delegates before ending a six-way session.
Pyongyang refused to allow international inspectors to take samples from soil and
waste at its nuclear sites for analysis at foreign laboratories, according to
South Korean envoy Kim Sook.
"There are several core contents in a (planned) verification protocol, especially
scientific procedures including sampling. North Korea said it can't accept that.
It gave fundamental and comprehensive reasons," Kim told reporters Wednesday
night after the third day of the session.
North Korea, which conducted an underground nuclear test in 2006, reiterated its
claim that it is a nuclear state, he said, although the international community
does not recognize it as such.
Documenting detailed verification methods is a key goal in this week's six-way
talks, which also involve the U.S., China, Russia and Japan.
Christopher Hill, Washington's representative to the talks, also said no progress
has been made.
"We have not achieved our goal," he said. "It's not trending in the right
direction."
The comments by Kim and Hill raised the possibility that the talks, which were
originally supposed to end Wednesday, will finish without any significant deal.
The South Korean negotiator said he doubted that China will present a modified
draft of a verification protocol, saying differences remain too wide.
A stalemate on the verification issue will also affect negotiations on the other
main agenda items, which include a timetable for completing the North's disabling
of its Yongbyon nuclear reactor and the delivery of energy aid by its dialogue
partners.
South Korea said it has pushed for a package deal. "The issues of verification
and energy assistance are comprehensively connected," Kim, its envoy, said
earlier.
