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N. Korea’s nod to verification pact

— PHOTO: Xinhua

Efforts bearing fruit: The chief negotiators of the six-party talks in Beijing on Saturday.

BEIJING: Chief delegates of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue ended talks here on Saturday, agreeing to establish a verification mechanism for denuclearisation.

Wu Dawei, head of the Chinese delegation, announced the specific verification plan that was made clear in a press communiqué of the heads of delegations meeting. The verification mechanism consists of experts from the six nations, and the measures include visits to facilities, reviews of documents and interviews with technical personnel, said Mr. Wu.

The mechanism welcomes the IAEA to provide consultations and assistance for relevant verification when necessary, he added. The six parties also agreed to set up a monitoring mechanism, consisting of the six negotiators, to ensure all nations fulfilled their respective commitments for non-proliferation and economic and energy assistance to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), added Mr. Wu. The parties mapped out a timetable for economic and energy assistance along with the disablement of the Yongbyon nuclear facilities, stressing disablement and assistance should go “in parallel.”

Under the timetable, North Korea will work to complete the disablement of the Yongbyon nuclear facilities by the end of October.

The U.S. and Russia will provide the remaining heavy fuel oil (HFO) assistance to the DPRK — also known as North Korea — by that time, while China and South Korea would sign binding agreements with North Korea for assistance by the end of August.

The parties exchanged views on the third-phase actions for the implementation of the joint statement of September 19, 2005, and reiterated the six-party ministerial meeting would be held in Beijing at an appropriate time, said Mr. Wu. China’s Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met the six chief delegates on Saturday at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.

Mr. Yang praised the meeting, held from July 10 to 12 after a nine-month stalemate, saying it was held with “high efficiency.”

“I hope the six parties could grasp the opportunity to continue working for the implementation of the second-phase action in a comprehensive and balanced way,” said Mr. Yang.

He added China would continue to contribute to the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, the relationship normalisation of the countries concerned, and peace and stability in Northeast Asia.

U.S. delegation head Christopher Hill said on Saturday that the communiqué issued by the Chinese chair “pretty accurately reflects the range of discussion” the delegations had.

He stressed the delegations still need to go back to their respective capitals for guidance to work out a verification protocol. — Xinhua

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