Negotiators of the US and North Korea might meet for one-on-one
consultation on Friday, US chief negotiator Christopher Hill said
this morning.??
Hill told reporters that the ongoing six-party talks are
"getting very much to the end," but negotiators still have "real
differences" on how to resolve the Korean Peninsula nuclear
issue.
"The good news is we knew where the substantive differences is
... so we really like to try to reach an agreement on principles,"
he said.
The US' stance is closer to China, South Korea, Russia and
Japan. "We'll see if we can be closer to North Korea."
Hill said that "North Korea should have peaceful use of nuclear
energy," but the US wants a "nuclear-free Korean Peninsula."
He said that past experiences showed that the North's nuclear
facilities, even if they were used for civilian or research
purposes, could be turned into "a weapon-producing facility" in
"two months."
As for the content of the common document, Hill said it was
possible that the verification of North Korea's nuclear facilities
and programs would be included in the text.
Verification is "a key factor but not for this stage," he
added.
Japanese delegation head Kenichiro Sasae said that all sides are
making the final efforts to institute a joint document. The meeting
between the US and North Korean delegations is the most important
arrangement today.
All delegates from China, the US, Russia, Japan, South and North
Korea continued negotiations today to seek ways to resolve the
Korean Peninsula nuclear issue in a peaceful manner when the
marathon fourth round of six-party talks ran into its record 11th
day.
(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2005)