North Korea Affirms Denuclearization Pact

North Korea’s foreign minister yesterday repeated his country’s support for a February denuclearization agreement but did not announce a firm date for its full implementation, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, July 27).

North Korea “is committed to the agreement signed in February to move forward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” said Pak Ui Chun while meeting in Manila with Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo.

“The six-party talks have been producing good progress,” Pak added according to a Philippine spokesman.

The North Korean minister, however, insisted that the parties follow an “action for action” timeline in which North Korea would be given oil and other incentives for the gradual uncloaking and shuttering of its civilian and military nuclear programs. 

Pak made the remarks during his visit to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum hosted by the Philippines, AP reported (see related GSN story, today; Kwang-Tae Kim, Associated Press/Washington Post, July 29).

Meanwhile, a new team of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors arrived in Pyongyang Saturday to continue verifying the shutdown of North Korea’s main nuclear reactor, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, July 26).

The first group of IAEA inspectors had been in the Stalinist state since July 12 before the relief team arrived. 

The new inspectors are scheduled to stay at the Yongbyon reactor complex for about two weeks before being relieved, said Ryszard Zarucki, chief inspector on the arriving team (Agence France-Presse I/Khaleej Times, July 28).

Pyongyang is expected to receive today or tomorrow the last shipment of a 50,000-gallon award of fuel oil for freezing activity at the Yongbyon facility, Agence France-Press reported (see GSN, July 25).

The oil has intermittently arrived at the North Korean port of Sonbong since mid-July, when IAEA inspectors confirmed that no facilities at Yongbyon were operating.

A six-nation discussion on further aid to Pyongyang might convene Aug. 8 and 9 in the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom, AFP reported (Agence France Presse II/Brisbane Times, July 29).

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