Tentative Deal Set on Closing North Korea Nuclear Program

Envoys to the six-party talks yesterday reached a tentative agreement on a plan to disable North Korea’s nuclear program before the end of 2007, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Sept. 28).

The document “lays out an entire roadmap until the end of the year,” U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said following four days of talks in Beijing.  “We’re into the nuts and bolts now of implementing denuclearization.”

The talks recessed for at least two days while negotiators from China, Japan, Russia, the United States and both Koreas communicated with their governments.  Hill was returning to Washington.

Pyongyang agreed in February to end its nuclear program, in exchange for 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil or related aid, along with diplomatic and security concessions from the other negotiating nations.  Diplomats have been pressing North Korea to fully declare and disable its nuclear complex after it shut down operations at the Yongbyon site.

The draft plan sets schedules for North Korea and the other nations participating in the talks, according to South Korean negotiator Chun Young-woo.

North Korea reaffirmed its pledge to carry out declaration and disablement by Dec. 31, with the understanding that it would not receive the full complement of aid in that time period, Chun said.  Seoul anticipates delivering roughly one-third of its pledged economic and energy assistance by the end of the year, he said.

Washington said again it would take North Korea off the list of state sponsors of terrorism, but the draft agreement includes no date for that to occur, Chun said.

“Many countries exerted the spirit of compromise.  In particular, North Korea made many concessions,” he said.

It was not immediately known if envoys had resolved some thorny issues, including the definition of disabling.  The United States is seeking to ensure that it would take at least one year to resume operations at a nuclear facility, AP reported (Anita Chang, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Sept. 30).

The agreement is expected to be made public after negotiators report to their capitals, Bloomberg reported.  Chun said he believes it will be approved.

“If that doesn’t happen there is a problem of renegotiations and I hope that it does not come to that,” he said.  “If there is no approval, then there is no agreement.  Still, I don’t feel we need to worry about that kind of situation at this point” (Koo/Cheng, Bloomberg, Sept. 30).

U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday signed off on shipping 50,000 tons of fuel oil to North Korea at a cost of $25 million, Agence France-Presse reported.

“This action is in accordance with the principle of ‘action for action’ under the six-party talks and demonstrates the U.S. commitment to the denuclearization of the D.P.R.K.,” said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

South Korea shipped 50,000 tons to its neighbor in July, followed this month by China.  Russia plans to provide another shipment, though Japan said the issue of its citizens abducted by North Korea must be resolved before it follows suit (Laurent Lozano, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Sept. 28).

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