U.S. urges N. Korea to present verification plan before delisting

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (Yonhap) -- The United States Thursday urged North Korea to present a verification regime on its nuclear facilities as a step toward its removal from a U.S. terrorism blacklist.

"At this point we're looking at the verification regime," State Department
spokesman Sean McCormack said. "And should we get a verification regime that is
acceptable to the five, as well as has the agreement of North Korea, all the
other parties are prepared to meet their obligations in kind."
McCormack was responding to the reports that Washington had notified other
partners in the six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions of its
intention to delist Pyongyang soon.
Reports said that Christopher Hill, the chief U.S. nuclear envoy, made a
face-saving proposal for the North during his three-day visit to Pyongyang last
week that Washington will first verify the North's plutonium-producing facilities
and move later to the more sensitive issues of uranium-based nuclear program and
nuclear proliferation.
"This is an action-for-action process," the spokesman said. "As North Korea meets
its obligations, we are fully prepared to meet our obligations."
The spokesman did not elaborate on the reports on the separation of the plutonium
from the uranium and proliferation issues, just saying, "Our goal for this
process is the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
"That means all the various aspects of their nuclear-related activities, whether
that's plutonium or HEU or any proliferation-related activities," he said. "And
we have an equal level of concern about all of those various areas, and therefore
we would need to be able -- we, the other five, would need to be able to satisfy
ourselves that the declaration the North Korean government provided is, in fact,
complete and correct." HEU stands for highly enriched uranium.
McCormack demanded that the North reverse the move to reactivate its nuclear
facilities disabled under a six-party deal involving the two Koreas, the U.S.,
China, Japan and Russia.
"All of that said, what they have done thus far is reversible," he said, urging
Pyongyang to take "the other pathway" to realize the "benefits of engagement."
On the reports that North Korea is poised to fire another round of missiles to
mark the anniversary of the foundation of its ruling Workers Party Friday,
McCormack said, "We would urge the North Koreans to avoid any steps that increase
tension on the peninsula."
"And as for any potential missile launches or missile-related activity, I'm not in
a position to confirm that for you," he said. "But I would remind the North Korean
government as well as underline for everybody else that missile-related activities
are prohibited under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1718." Short-range missiles
are exempt.
The resolution was imposed soon after the North fired ballistic missiles in 2006
that can theoretically reach the west coast of mainland America. The North also
voluntarily set a moratorium on ballistic missile launches in 1998 after debris
from one of its ballistic missiles fell into the sea off Alaska and alarmed the
U.S. and its allies.
The spokesman expressed regret that North Korea banned access to its nuclear
facilities by International Atomic Energy Agency monitors.
"It's a regrettable step but one that is reversible," he said, adding "the IAEA
inspectors are still in North Korea at Yongbyon as well."
hdh@yna.co.kr