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Japan, South Korea, U.S. to Present “Road Map” for Dismantling North Korea’s Nuclear Programs
Negotiators in the six-party talks will press North Korea to accept a phased approach to dismantling its nuclear programs, top Japanese envoy Kenichiro Sasae said yesterday upon arrival in Beijing for this week’s round of negotiations (see GSN, Nov. 7). Japan, South Korea and the United States plan to present a “road map” for dismantlement and corresponding rewards, the Asahi Shimbun reported. The plan would include a schedule of verification measures, Asahi cited South Korean diplomatic sources as saying. Top North and South Korean negotiators met for more than 90 minutes yesterday, AFP reported. “We have had constructive and in-depth talks about how to implement the joint statement” produced at the last set of negotiations, said head North Korean delegate Kim Kye Gwan. Official six-party talks were set to begin today. Interfax quoted a North Korean official reiterating Pyongyang’s demand for a light-water nuclear reactor, normalized relations with the United States and other assistance while it disarms (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Nov. 8). Another official echoed those demands, Reuters reported. “The fair resolution of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula and in particular the prospect of the fifth round of six-party talks depend entirely on the U.S. attitude to implementing its obligations of ending nuclear threats and the provision of light-water reactors in line with the joint statement of the fourth round of six-party talks,” North Korean Ambassador to the United Nations Pak Gil Yon said yesterday (Irwin Arieff, Reuters, Nov. 7). North Korea is unlikely to make real concessions at this week’s talks, one analyst predicted. “I don’t think they’re serious about progress yet,” said Peter Beck, Seoul-based director of the Northeast Asia Project for the International Crisis Group. “Washington has no choice but to go along with this charade.” North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao last month that he was committed to the six-party talks. However, Hu’s economic aid pledge might have relieved some pressure on North Korea to reach a deal on eliminating its nuclear program, Beck said. China was also cautious about expectations for the meeting. “I do not think that progress of the talks needs to be measured by the signing of a document,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said today (Stephanie Hoo, Associated Press/Washington Post, Nov. 8).
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