Additional North Korea Talks Nuclear Anticipated

The next round of six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program could occur in the near future, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Friday (see GSN, May 4).

“The United States is confident that (the settlement of the issue) is near.  I would not be surprised at all (if the six-party talks) resumed next week,” he said, according to Reuters (Reuters/The Star, May 5).

There has been no progress in the atomic standoff since Pyongyang agreed in February to begin denuclearization in exchange for fuel oil and related assistance from other nations participating in the talks.  North Korea missed the April 14 deadline, demanding that it first collect $25 million from Banco Delta Asia.

Lead U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill said Washington does not believe that the money issue is simply an excuse for Pyongyang to avoid fulfilling its commitments under the deal, the Associated Press reported.

“I know it’s tough to watch the days roll by,” he said Friday at Johns Hopkins University.  “We think our best interest is in being patient.”

“It’s been tough,” Hill added.  “Everyone is impatient right now; everyone wants this to get going” (Foster Klug, Associated Press I/Northwest Florida Daily News, May 4).

Hill said he still believes that North Korea could conduct the first two phases of the agreement — shutting down and disabling the Yongbyon nuclear reactor — by the end of 2007, Agence France-Presse reported.

“I think we can put ourselves into the position that by the latter part of this calendar year, we can get through phase one and phase two and for us to work on phase three,” he said.

Disabling the reactor could be done in a matter of weeks, Hill said.  Some of the energy assistance for Pyongyang could also be advanced, he said.

“We can recover some list time in the first tranche,” he said.  “We believe we can get this second tranche done in this calendar yet.”

Under the third phase of work, North Korean nuclear facilities would be dismantled and removed, and Pyongyang would be required to account for up to 60 kilograms of plutonium.  The final phase is likely to involve “another set of hard bargaining,” Hill said (P. Parameswaran, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, May 4).

North Korea pledged again today to make fast progress on its commitments once it has the money, AP reported.

“The shutdown is something that can be done immediately and it won’t take long,” Foreign Ministry vice spokesman Ri Kyong Son told APTN.

Moving the funds has proven far more difficult than anticipated, following the U.S. announcement that the money was available.  Some institutions have reportedly been reluctant to accept money the United States had linked to counterfeiting and other illicit financial activity.  Ri could not say when the money would be in North Korean hands.

“The U.S. has made the announcement, but only when we receive the funds can the sanctions be said to have been lifted,” he said.  “Making the announcement itself does not settle the unfreezing of the funds.”

The South Korean government might allow one of its state-run banks to accept the funds and potentially solve the impasse, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported.

Seoul “studied what it can do to help resolve,” the matter, according to the presidential Blue House.  “However, consultations are now progressing between the directly related parties and we expect the issue to be resolved through them” (Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, May 6).

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