Top nuclear envoys spent Sunday in grueling discussions over the amount and timing of aid each of the five is to shoulder once North Korea halts its nuclear program. North Korea wants alternative energy aid equivalent to 2 million kw a year if it takes steps to scrap its nuclear program by shutting down facilities, according to a source in Beijing, way more than the 500,000 tons of heavy fuel set out in a 1994 agreement.

“Tomorrow will be the last day,” U.S. chief negotiator Christopher Hill said after returning to his hotel, hinting that an agreement is in sight, although the talks snagged on the amount of energy assistance Pyongyang would receive as a reward.

He said the issue should be discussed by a working group, as proposed by China, since it would be appropriate to have experts discuss the amount of energy aid. The U.S. told other participants Hill could visit North Korea if an accord is reached in this round.

The six-parties -- North and South Korea, the U.S., China, Japan, and Russia -- had nearly reached consensus on the shutdown of the North's nuclear program, including a 5 MW graphite reactor in Yongbyon, before getting bogged down over who will bear what cost.

◆ No clear commitment

None of the five has made clear comments on who will bear the cost for the energy. South Korea's chief delegate Chun Young-woo said, "The participating countries will share the cost if they make a decision on energy aid for the North." Article 3 of a statement of principles signed in September 2005 states that China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the U.S. “expressed willingness” to supply North Korea with energy aid. Hill on Sunday merely said the U.S. is willing to give that aid together with other countries. But the cost is unlikely to be shared equally. Other countries are not even using the term "sharing." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang made no reference to Beijing sharing the cost. "There are still fairly big differences among the different parties,” he said.

Japanese government officials including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have repeatedly said Japan does not want to pitch in unless the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by the North is resolved. And after a lunch with Chun, the Russian representative Alexander Losyukov said that Russia would deal with the issue properly once denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is ensured.

◆ South Korea to bear lion’s share

Sources at the talks say South Korea is being mentioned to chair the economic and energy aid working group, one of five groups that would work out the details according to the statement of principles.

That means Seoul would have to take the initiative in discussing aid for the North and could therefore end up shouldering most of the burden, just as it did after the abortive Geneva Accords in 1994. At the time, South Korea bore 70 percent of the $4.6 billion for construction of a light-water reactor in the North. Japan bore 22 percent of the cost, and the U.S. agreed to give an annual supply of 500,000 tons of heavy oil worth about $100 million. This time, the New York Times quoted U.S. government officials as saying that if North Korea agrees to shut down its nuclear facilities, South Korea will supply the heavy oil and the U.S. will begin talks on normalizing relations with North Korea.

A researcher with a state-run think tank said, "We have the experience of the Geneva Accord. And in 2005, when he was unification minister, Chung Dong-young publicly promised to provide 2 million kw of electricity to North Korea. These things greatly weigh the scales against South Korea in the talks on cost sharing."

(englishnews@chosun.com )