Korean Nuclear Declaration Could Arrive This Month

North Korea appears ready to issue a full declaration of its nuclear holdings and activities this month, Bloomberg reported (see GSN, April 15).

The list was expected Dec. 31 as part of the second phase of North Korean denuclearization, for which the isolated nation stands to receive economic, diplomatic and security benefits.  However, the process has stumbled amid U.S. assertions that Pyongyang had failed to address key segments of its nuclear program.

Envoys from Pyongyang and Washington reportedly reached a tentative deal last week under which North Korea would provide details of its plutonium-based programs while acknowledging U.S. suspicions regarding uranium enrichment efforts and support for a Syrian nuclear program (see GSN, March 31).

That agreement opened the door for the release of the declaration, a South Korean official told the Hankook Ilbo newspaper.  Once that occurs, negotiations could begin on removing North Korea from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.

It might also allow for another round of nuclear negotiations in mid-May involving China, Japan, Russia, the United States and both Koreas, the official said (Bomi Lim, Bloomberg, April 16).

The seeming resolution to the standoff has not yet cleared the way for progress on the 2007 denuclearization deal, Reuters reported today.

There are significant differences on details of the full accounting of Pyongyang’s plutonium program, which is believed to have produced material for several nuclear weapons, a Japanese government official said.

Leaders in North Korea and the United States must also sign off on the deal.  U.S. President George W. Bush has indicated his support for the plan (Teruaki Ueno, Reuters/Washington Post, April 16).

U.S. lawmakers are also likely to take a close look at the recent agreement, the Financial Times reported.

The Bush administration has shown “a consistent willingness to lower the bar with the North Koreans,” said Representative Ed Royce (R-Calif.), ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade Subcommittee.

A “rush to achieve a quick diplomatic fix with Pyongyang, without addressing the Syrian connection, Pyongyang’s highly enriched uranium program, counterfeiting and the human rights concerns of our allies, is not an agreement that can stand the test of time,” House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking Republican  Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.) said yesterday in a letter.

However, committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-Calif.) believes the disarmament effort has “returned to the right track” and is “happy with the newly revived efforts to continue talking with North Korea,” a spokeswoman said.

Action from Congress is expected to be necessary as the process continues, one congressional aide said.  That would include providing a waiver to the amendment barring assistance to North Korea in the wake of its 2006 nuclear test.

“They are going to start needing things from us.  Our acquiescence is not going to suffice,” he said (Demetri Sevastopulo, Financial Times, April 16).

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