North Korea Deal May Miss Deadline, Officials Say

It will be “difficult” to meet the deadline for the first stage of a February agreement addressing the North Korean nuclear crisis, a Japanese Cabinet official said Monday (see GSN, April 3).

The Feb. 13 deal called for a number of steps to be completed within 60 days, including the suspension of nuclear activities within North Korea, but a continuing problem in freeing up once frozen North Korean bank accounts now threatens that timeline.

“We should not lose hope, but objectively speaking, it is getting quite difficult,” said Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi.  “The issue, however, is not in our hands and that is somewhat frustrating.”

While the United States has lifted its objections to transferring $25 million in frozen assets back to North Korea, no bank has yet agreed to accept the funds for Pyongyang.

North Korean officials have vowed to abstain from nuclear negotiations until the transfer is completed (Associated Press, April 2).

China’s top nuclear envoy agreed with the Japanese assessment today.

“I think that will be the outcome. It cannot be helped,” said Wu Dawei (Agence France-Presse I/Yahoo!News, April 4).

Meanwhile, a private U.S. group led by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson was cleared by the White House yesterday to visit North Korea Sunday to collect the remains of U.S. soldiers killed during the Korean War, Agence France-Presse reported.

Richardson has traveled repeatedly to Pyongyang, first when he was a U.S. Representative, and he later conducted official diplomacy when he served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and energy secretary during the Clinton administration.  He ties continued during the Bush administration, and he hosted a North Korean delegation in New Mexico late last year (see GSN, Dec. 18, 2006).

“Hopefully this trip will advance the progress made by the Bush administration during the six-party talks to dismantle nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula,” said Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos (Olivier Knox, Agence France-Presse II/Yahoo!News, April 4).

Back to top
About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines © Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.