U.S. - North Korea
Six-Party Talks Stall as North Korea Refuses to Sign AgreementNorth Koreans rejected verification plan offered by China By Merle D. Kellerhals Jr. Washington — The United States and other members of the Six-Party Talks are reassessing the arms control negotiations with North Korea after it refused to verify its past nuclear activities in a written agreement offered by the Chinese, the White House says. Chief U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill told reporters December 11 that North Korea would not agree to verification proposals offered by the other nations in the talks. “There was a lot of agreement among a majority of the delegations there, but ultimately [North Korea] was not ready to reach a verification protocol with all the standards that are required,” he said. Hill is the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs. At the daily briefing December 11, White House press secretary Dana Perino said the North Koreans did not want to put into writing what they have said in words. “It's too early for me to say what the next steps are, but what's unfortunate is that the North Koreans had an opportunity here,” Perino said. “There was an open door, and all they had to do was walk through it because five of the members of the Six-Party Talks had all agreed on a verification protocol,” she said. Perino said that because North Korea would not put into writing its previous nuclear activities in a standard international verification agreement, “we're going to have to rethink some of this action for action, which is what we have said we would do.” President Bush already removed North Korea from the U.S. State Sponsors of Terrorism list after the North Koreans agreed to some nuclear inspection requirements. It was part of a broader “action for action” plan in which North Korea receives diplomatic concessions and economic assistance in exchange for eliminating its nuclear weapons program. The United States is joined in the Six-Party Talks by China, North and South Korea, Japan and Russia. China is host to the nuclear arms talks, which began in 2003. In 2006, North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test, and in 2007 North Korea agreed to an accord that set up the action-for-action plan designed ultimately to eliminate nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula. In June, North Korea provided an inventory of its past nuclear development activities, but did not agree to a full verification protocol commonly used by most nations. Talks have stumbled since then because of North Korean reluctance to fully disclose all of its nuclear weapons development activities and permit international inspectors to conduct tests and take samples. North Korea has refused to allow outside inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to take samples at its main nuclear complex at Yongbyon, which is a standard method for accounting for nuclear programs. Previously, North Korea had agreed to permit experts to take samples and conduct forensic testing at all of its declared nuclear facilities and undeclared sites. International verification standards, including sampling, are essential to the nuclear programs elimination process, Hill said. “We tried to acquaint the [North Koreans] with those standards and ultimately couldn't get it done during this round.” “I think we all have a sense that verification really needs to meet international standards and make sure we have a situation where what we do here does not negatively affect the next such situation in the world,” Hill said. “We want to make sure that what we do here actually enhances the ability to have a similar type of protocol in a different part of the world. We want to reinforce the overall international system.” Yongbyon is approximately 60 miles [96 kilometers] north of the capital at Pyongyang. It has three main facilities — a five-megawatt nuclear reactor, a plutonium reprocessing plant and a nuclear fuel fabrication complex — according to the IAEA. The reactor facility is located along the Churyong River and is about a mile long. “The draft [verification agreement] that North Korea said it could not sign on to at this round of the Six-Party Talks was the Chinese draft,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said December 11. “I think it's safe to say that all the other members of the Six-Party Talks supported this draft. North Korea on this question is isolated.” McCormack said that after North Korea said it could not sign the draft agreement, the other members adjourned the talks and will reconvene later. |
