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Six-nation talks reached an 11th-hour tentative agreement on the road to taking apart North Korea¡¯s nuclear program on Tuesday morning, the first palpable progress in the 17 months since a Sept. 19 2005 statement of principles. North and South Korea, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia after all-night bilateral and multilateral talks in Beijing were to announce the agreement as early as Tuesday once they have confirmed it with their governments.
U.S. top nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill said the joint document is based on a draft circulated by China on Feb. 8, the first day of the new round of talks. South Korea¡¯s chief delegate Chun Young-woo said negotiators agreed on the initial steps North Korea is to take, and the nature and amount of aid it will get as a reward. He said it was still uncertain whether the joint document will be announced Tuesday or Wednesday because negotiators must run it by their governments first. Chun said the amount of energy aid the North stands to get has been specified but additional discussions are needed.
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A car enters the compound of the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, the venue of six-party talks on North Korea¡¯s nuclear program, in Beijing on Monday.
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According to Chun, the joint document links the steps North Korea has to take toward dismantling the nuclear program with equivalent rewards. It reportedly stipulates the timing and amount of energy aid Pyongyang will receive at each step. The measures target five nuclear facilities including a 5 mw nuclear reactor in Yongbyon. The North is in for different amounts of aid depending on how far it goes in implementing certain steps categorized as ¡°freezing¡±, "shutdown",¡°canning¡±, ¡°dismantlement¡± and ¡°abandonment.¡±
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South Korean envoy Chun Yung-woo leaves his hotel for six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program in Beijing on Monday./AP-Yonhap
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Chun said the difference with the abortive Geneva Accords of 1994 is that Pyongyang will be given staggered rewards as it moves toward abandoning its nuclear program. Under the Geneva agreement, freezing the facilities alone meant massive energy aid, but this time, rewards will be given according to how the North implements each step. The agreement requires North Korea to take initial measures within 60 days. The five countries will each provide the energy they can afford as well as heavy fuel oil, sharing the burden of payment equally, Chun said.
As proposed by China, the deal includes setting up five working groups to implement it as well as the principles of the September 2005 statement as a whole. The onus now is on North Korea to keep up its part of the bargain.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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