The chief US envoy for the nuclear disarmament talks with North
Korea said yesterday that the country's nuclear facilities could be
shut down and inspected by the UN nuclear watchdog in the next few
weeks.
"Even though we are behind the timeline set out in February, we
believe we have some possibility of making up," US Assistant
Secretary of State Christopher Hill said in Beijing after talking
with Chinese diplomats.
"Today I have completed some useful discussions with my Chinese
counterpart Wu Dawei and reviewed the six-party process," Hill
said.
"I think we do have to pay attention to timelines," he said,
urging all parties to keep up the momentum.
Russia's Interfax news agency, too, said yesterday that North
Korea is planning to seal its main nuclear reactor and source of
weapons-grade plutonium in the second half of July.
"To stop the reactor, it will take about a month according to
our specialists," Interfax quoted an unidentified North Korean
diplomatic source as saying.
"So we are counting on sealing it (the reactor) in the second
half of July, in accordance with the agreements reached at the six-party talks," the diplomat said.
North Korea had said on Saturday that it had invited the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for talks to verify and
monitor "the suspension of operations of the nuclear
facilities."
Pyongyang's move came after the dispute over its US$25-million
funds was resolved. The money was blocked in Banco Delta Asia, a
Macao-based bank for a long time. Pyongyang's insistence on the
release of the funds had stalled international efforts and delayed
a February 13 agreement to make North Korea shut down its nuclear
reactors.
The deadline set in the agreement expired in April, under which
North Korea should have shut down its reactor and readmitted
international nuclear inspectors in exchange for fuel or other
aid.
"This weekend represents an important step away from the bank
issue that has held us up for a long time," Hill said.
"Now we are very much getting prepared for the shutting down of
nuclear facilities in Yongbyon, and we will continue to implement
the February agreement."
Also yesterday, South Korea asked at least two refiners to
supply 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil to North Korea, which it had
agreed to once Pyongyang started the process of closing the
Yongbyon nuclear plant, industry sources in Seoul said
yesterday.
Hill said the first shipment of 50,000 tons of fuel oil could
leave within a week or two.
The six-party talks in Beijing have brought together China,
North and South Korea, the US, Japan and Russia to seek a way of
resolving the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.
(China Daily June 19, 2007)
