Envoys set for last-stage negotiations amid signs of progress

By Lee Chi-dong
BEIJING, Dec. 10 (Yonhap) -- Senior envoys were to hold their third and probably
last day of talks on Wednesday over how to inspect North Korea's nuclear arsenal
amid signs of progress on one of the thorniest issues -- whether sampling is
guaranteed.

South Korea and the United States expressed cautious satisfaction with a
four-page draft agreement distributed by host China on Tuesday, although the
North gave no public response.
Kim Sook, Seoul's representative to the six-way talks, described it as "enough to
be used as a basis for drawing up a verification protocol."
He said that the current session of the six-party talks also involving Russia and
Japan will likely end on Wednesday, as initially planned.
Briefing journalists on the results of Tuesday's session, the seasoned diplomat
refused to go into the contents of the draft.
A source privy to the talks, however, said later that the six parties reached
consensus on sampling, clearing one of their biggest obstacles.
"Sampling is not a contentious issue anymore," the source said on condition of
anonymity, adding China used an alternative word so that taking samples will be
technically allowed.
Washington's top envoy confirmed sampling is addressed in the draft.
"It is fair to say yes," Christopher Hill said in response to a question on
whether the draft touches on U.S. demands for scientific procedures, including
sampling.
Japan's negotiator Akitaka Saiki also said that the word "sampling" is not
directly mentioned in the draft, but in an expression "very close to" it.
The source said all parties gave a nod to the expression, which is still
undisclosed, and that additional discussions are needed only on other issues such
as the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency and access to facilities
excluded from Pyongyang's June declaration of its nuclear inventory.
At the end of talks in July, North Korea agreed with its dialogue partners --
South Korea, the U.S., China, Russia, and Japan -- to allow their inspectors to
choose "visits to facilities, review of documents, interviews with technical
personnel and other measures unanimously agreed upon among the six parties" for
verification.
The planned verification protocol will provide more detailed guidelines on which
inspection measures will be used.
Before the new round of talks, North Korea had been sensitive to the word
"sampling," calling it a matter of sovereignty.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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