ID :
22352
Thu, 10/02/2008 - 15:33
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/22352
The shortlink copeid
Hill extends stay in Pyongyang, raises hopes of compromise
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Oct. 2 (Yonhap) -- Chief U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill has extended his trip to North Korea for at least a day, officials here said Thursday, a decision that may signal progress in his efforts to save a multilateral disarmament deal.
Hill went overland into North Korea Wednesday on a mission to stop the country
from reviving its atomic weapons drive and to obtain a compromise on a
verification plan for a declaration of its nuclear assets.
He was initially scheduled to come back to Seoul via the border village of
Panmunjom on Thursday afternoon, although he said before the trip that his
schedule there could change in accordance with developments in negotiations.
"The U.S. informed us that Assistant Secretary of State Hill will not come back to
Seoul today," a Foreign Ministry official said on condition of anonymity. He
provided no specifics as to the reason for the schedule change.
It is uncertain whether Hill will end his trip to the North on Friday or stay
there longer, he added.
The official refused to comment on whether it is a good or bad sign.
Hill had planned to brief his South Korean counterpart Kim Sook on the results of
his visit. Top Japanese nuclear envoy Akitaka Saiki was also supposed to fly to
Seoul Thursday night for a meeting with Hill but canceled the trip, according to
Foreign Ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young.
Tensions have steadily mounted as the unpredictable North has taken a series of
steps related to its nuclear program in recent weeks, apparently in protest at
Washington's refusal to take it off the terrorism list before a deal on a
verification protocol.
The North announced in mid-August a halt in the slow-going disablement of its
nuclear facilities in Yongbyon under a 2007 deal with the U.S., South Korea,
China, and Japan.
Pyongyang told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) late last month that
it was about to reload nuclear material into a plutonium reprocessing plant,
where weapons-grade material would be extracted from spent fuel rods.
South Korean intelligence sources said that the North may also be restoring its
atomic weapons test site and preparing for another test of long-range missiles.
They cited increased activities in the areas as evidence.
North Korea's real intentions are still unclear, but many analysts view the
measures as a bargaining tactic.
They point out North Korea is well aware that U.S. spy satellites are closely
monitoring those facilities. The North, in fact, has allowed IAEA inspectors and
U.S. monitors to stay at the Yongbyon site so that they can witness what is going
on there.
In Washington, meanwhile, the State Department has left the door open for a
compromise on the verification issue.
"The ball is, in essence, in the North Koreans' court," department spokesman Sean
McCormack said at a press briefing. "And we will see if they make a different set
of decisions than they've been making over the past month."
He confirmed Washington's flexibility in the format of a deal, possibly with the
help of China, which hosts the six-way nuclear talks.
"We have used the Chinese and the Chinese have served a special role as chair of
the process," the spokesman said, referring to a precedent set when North Korea
first turned in its nuclear declaration to China in June.
The Washington Post reported earlier this week that the U.S. is considering a
face-saving proposal under which North Korea would give China a plan that
includes sampling, access to key sites and other terms. The Bush administration
would then provisionally remove North Korea from the terrorism list, after which
China would announce North Korea's acceptance of the verification plan.
Under the scheme, the North would be able to technically agree on a verification
plan after its removal from the terror list.
A South Korean government source said that Hill went to the North with "flexible
ideas on both the contents and the format with regard to the verification issue."
"The U.S. delivered a revised draft on verification protocols, which include less
strident measures, to North Korea on several occasions," he said. "The North has
not responded to them."
He did not elaborate, only saying that a "key issue is whether North Koreans will
accept the methods, not the format, during talks with Assistant Secretary of
State Hill."
SEOUL, Oct. 2 (Yonhap) -- Chief U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill has extended his trip to North Korea for at least a day, officials here said Thursday, a decision that may signal progress in his efforts to save a multilateral disarmament deal.
Hill went overland into North Korea Wednesday on a mission to stop the country
from reviving its atomic weapons drive and to obtain a compromise on a
verification plan for a declaration of its nuclear assets.
He was initially scheduled to come back to Seoul via the border village of
Panmunjom on Thursday afternoon, although he said before the trip that his
schedule there could change in accordance with developments in negotiations.
"The U.S. informed us that Assistant Secretary of State Hill will not come back to
Seoul today," a Foreign Ministry official said on condition of anonymity. He
provided no specifics as to the reason for the schedule change.
It is uncertain whether Hill will end his trip to the North on Friday or stay
there longer, he added.
The official refused to comment on whether it is a good or bad sign.
Hill had planned to brief his South Korean counterpart Kim Sook on the results of
his visit. Top Japanese nuclear envoy Akitaka Saiki was also supposed to fly to
Seoul Thursday night for a meeting with Hill but canceled the trip, according to
Foreign Ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young.
Tensions have steadily mounted as the unpredictable North has taken a series of
steps related to its nuclear program in recent weeks, apparently in protest at
Washington's refusal to take it off the terrorism list before a deal on a
verification protocol.
The North announced in mid-August a halt in the slow-going disablement of its
nuclear facilities in Yongbyon under a 2007 deal with the U.S., South Korea,
China, and Japan.
Pyongyang told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) late last month that
it was about to reload nuclear material into a plutonium reprocessing plant,
where weapons-grade material would be extracted from spent fuel rods.
South Korean intelligence sources said that the North may also be restoring its
atomic weapons test site and preparing for another test of long-range missiles.
They cited increased activities in the areas as evidence.
North Korea's real intentions are still unclear, but many analysts view the
measures as a bargaining tactic.
They point out North Korea is well aware that U.S. spy satellites are closely
monitoring those facilities. The North, in fact, has allowed IAEA inspectors and
U.S. monitors to stay at the Yongbyon site so that they can witness what is going
on there.
In Washington, meanwhile, the State Department has left the door open for a
compromise on the verification issue.
"The ball is, in essence, in the North Koreans' court," department spokesman Sean
McCormack said at a press briefing. "And we will see if they make a different set
of decisions than they've been making over the past month."
He confirmed Washington's flexibility in the format of a deal, possibly with the
help of China, which hosts the six-way nuclear talks.
"We have used the Chinese and the Chinese have served a special role as chair of
the process," the spokesman said, referring to a precedent set when North Korea
first turned in its nuclear declaration to China in June.
The Washington Post reported earlier this week that the U.S. is considering a
face-saving proposal under which North Korea would give China a plan that
includes sampling, access to key sites and other terms. The Bush administration
would then provisionally remove North Korea from the terrorism list, after which
China would announce North Korea's acceptance of the verification plan.
Under the scheme, the North would be able to technically agree on a verification
plan after its removal from the terror list.
A South Korean government source said that Hill went to the North with "flexible
ideas on both the contents and the format with regard to the verification issue."
"The U.S. delivered a revised draft on verification protocols, which include less
strident measures, to North Korea on several occasions," he said. "The North has
not responded to them."
He did not elaborate, only saying that a "key issue is whether North Koreans will
accept the methods, not the format, during talks with Assistant Secretary of
State Hill."
