ID :
22137
Wed, 10/01/2008 - 17:19
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/22137
The shortlink copeid
Hill unsure about outcome of his N. Korea trip
INCHEON, Sept. 30 (Yonhap) -- Chief U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill was cautious Tuesday about predicting the results of his trip this week to North Korea aimed at saving a moribund multilateral disarmament deal.
"We will see what happens when we go up to DPRK (North Korea) tomorrow," Hill
told reporters upon arriving at an international airport just west of Seoul en
route to Pyongyang.
Hill's "make-or-break" trip to the North Korean capital, the third following two
previous ones last year, comes after the communist state announced it was about
to reactivate a plutonium reprocessing plant in the Yonbyon nuclear complex.
Hill, assistant secretary of state, said he will focus his "open-ended" trip on
trying to reach a deal on ways of verifying the North's recent nuclear
declaration and completing the second of the three-tier denuclearization process.
"We thought it would be useful to try to have those discussions in Pyongyang.
That's why I'm going," he said. "We need to make sure that we are going to be
able to verify their declaration. So let's see if we can come up with the
measures or they allow us to verify the declaration."
The envoy said the Bush administration, which is in its final months, is eager to
wrap up the protracted second phase.
"And what we also want to do is to move on and complete our obligations in the
phase two which includes, of course, taking them off the terrorism list," he
said.
In the second stage, North Korea is required to disable its main nuclear
facilities in Yongbyon and fully account for its nuclear program in return for
economic assistance and political incentives.
But the North has halted the disabling work in protest of Washington's delay in
removing Pyongyang from the terrorism list.
Asked about how long he is going to stay in North Korea, he said, "Let's first
see whether we are going to make some progress."
Hill said he would come back to Seoul before flying to Beijing, the next leg of
his regional tour that will also take him to Tokyo.
In Washington, the State Department said earlier that Hill's planned visit to
Pyongyang is also aimed at deciphering the North's intention behind its recent
steps.
"Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice obviously believes it's important for Chris
Hill to go out to the region, particularly to go to Pyongyang, to get a sense on
the ground as to what's going on and obviously to talk with North Korean
officials about why they've taken the steps they've taken," the department's
deputy spokesman, Robert Wood, said.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)
"We will see what happens when we go up to DPRK (North Korea) tomorrow," Hill
told reporters upon arriving at an international airport just west of Seoul en
route to Pyongyang.
Hill's "make-or-break" trip to the North Korean capital, the third following two
previous ones last year, comes after the communist state announced it was about
to reactivate a plutonium reprocessing plant in the Yonbyon nuclear complex.
Hill, assistant secretary of state, said he will focus his "open-ended" trip on
trying to reach a deal on ways of verifying the North's recent nuclear
declaration and completing the second of the three-tier denuclearization process.
"We thought it would be useful to try to have those discussions in Pyongyang.
That's why I'm going," he said. "We need to make sure that we are going to be
able to verify their declaration. So let's see if we can come up with the
measures or they allow us to verify the declaration."
The envoy said the Bush administration, which is in its final months, is eager to
wrap up the protracted second phase.
"And what we also want to do is to move on and complete our obligations in the
phase two which includes, of course, taking them off the terrorism list," he
said.
In the second stage, North Korea is required to disable its main nuclear
facilities in Yongbyon and fully account for its nuclear program in return for
economic assistance and political incentives.
But the North has halted the disabling work in protest of Washington's delay in
removing Pyongyang from the terrorism list.
Asked about how long he is going to stay in North Korea, he said, "Let's first
see whether we are going to make some progress."
Hill said he would come back to Seoul before flying to Beijing, the next leg of
his regional tour that will also take him to Tokyo.
In Washington, the State Department said earlier that Hill's planned visit to
Pyongyang is also aimed at deciphering the North's intention behind its recent
steps.
"Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice obviously believes it's important for Chris
Hill to go out to the region, particularly to go to Pyongyang, to get a sense on
the ground as to what's going on and obviously to talk with North Korean
officials about why they've taken the steps they've taken," the department's
deputy spokesman, Robert Wood, said.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)
