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U.S. chief negotiator Christopher Hill told reporters Wednesday that his country and North Korea will discuss removing the North from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism in talks between the two countries in Geneva over the weekend. ˇ°We are going to have a discussion about things that they need to do... how far we are going to expect to see denuclearization go" in order to remove Pyongyang from the list, Hill said. The working talks on normalizing U.S.-North Korea relations arise from a Feb. 13 six-nation agreement on the denuclearization process in North Korea.
A U.S. government official said removing North Korea from the terror sponsors list is a political issue, but it is certain that the North has not engaged in terrorist activities for the last six months. He said Washington has not so far reviewed the matter because the question of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 80s has not been resolved, but the North could be struck from the list if it actively works for denuclearization.
Hill said he was pushing for talks between the foreign ministers of the six nations in Beijing in October. He dismissed claims that the February agreement skirts over the nuclear weapons North Korea has already built as targets for reporting and disablement, the next stage under the agreement. ˇ°All parties, including Pyongyang, understand that they are included in the denuclearization plan,ˇ± he said. The nuclear weapons are clearly mentioned in a Sept. 19, 2005 statement of principles reached in the six-party talks, and the North Koreans ˇ°understand what I've said about that, absolutely,ˇ± Hill added. The Feb. 13 agreement deals with the initial stage of resolving the North Korean nuclear problem, while the next stage will address the nuclear weapon programs.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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