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BEIJING - Chief negotiators from South and North Korea, the United States, Japan, China, and Russia who are now participating the second round of six-party talk have conducted Friday's general meeting and held a few separate meetings for chief negotiators and associate representatives to settle final issues before a joint declaration. It looks like negotiators are troubled, however, as the United States and North Korea refuse to back down from their stances on the scope of the North's nuclear program dismantlement.
Reportedly, the goal of the United States is "the complete, irreversible, and verfiable dismantling (CVID)" of all nuclear facilities, including ones for highly enriched uranium (HEU). North Korea, on the contrary, insists that such measures would likely restrict peaceful nuclear activities as well.
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Surrounded by reporters, South Korean chief delegate Lee Soo-hyuck leaves a hotel in Beijing Friday. To his right is Cho Sung-tae, another delegate./Yonhap
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North Korean negotiators' objective in this joint declaration was ¡°to dismantle its military purpose-nuclear programs but allow international institutions to inspect nuclear facilities built for peaceful means," an official from the Russian delegation said. North Korea also requested economic compensation and the dropping of U.S.'s hostile policy towards the North.
Commenting on this, China and South Korea proposed to arrange a neutral statement for the joint declaration that both the United States and North Korea could agree on and to conduct working group meetings for the associate representatives in March and a third round of six-way talks in April. South Korea reportedly has submitted an opinion wishing to include a plan to give energy aid to North Korea if they freeze all nuclear activities in the joint declaration.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Collin Powell commented on the six-party talk while testifying before the Senate Budget Committee on Thursday. He said that although the outcome of the talks have been positive so far, diplomacy does not just happen in a few days. Powell added that even though negotiators would not see immediate success, a solution could be drawn out from failures and mistakes.
(Yi Ha-won, may2@chosun.com )
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