ID :
35387
Sat, 12/13/2008 - 10:00
Auther :

Nuclear talks not failure, should go on: foreign minister

(ATTN: RECASTS lead, headline; MODIFIES throughout; TRIMS)
By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, Dec. 12 (Yonhap) -- Seoul's top diplomat on Friday said the six-party
talks on North Korea's nuclear disarmament will remain viable even after U.S.
President-elect Barack Obama takes office in January, downplaying a setback in
the latest round of negotiations.

The comment by Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan comes as analysts have increasingly
suggested the possibility of Obama sending a special envoy to Pyongyang in an
attempt to open a bilateral dialogue channel to settle a protracted stalemate on
the nuclear issue.
Those predictions gained momentum on Thursday as the latest round of six-nation
talks ended without progress towards verifying North Korea's nuclear weapons
declaration. North Korea has refused to allow sampling at its main nuclear
complex, a measure that is considered key in determining whether the North has
accurately represented its nuclear inventory.
"There is no doubt that the Obama administration will tackle North Korea's
denuclearization within the six-party talks framework," Minister Yu said in a
conference with ruling party legislators. "It is too soon to question the
effectiveness of the talks or say North Korea's denuclearization process is
dead."
"Although it has been slow, the six nations generally agree a considerable amount
of progress has been made on North Korea's denuclearization."
The six-party talks -- which involve the two Koreas, the United States, Japan,
China and Russia -- have taken place intermittently since 2003. They took a
serious blow in 2006 when the North conducted an unexpected underground nuclear
test.
The nuclear negotiations appeared to be taking positive steps in 2007 when North
Korea agreed to disable facilities at its plutonium-producing Yongbyon nuclear
complex and declare all of its atomic activities in return for 1 million tons of
fuel oil or energy aid of equivalent value. The process hit an impasse in August
over the verification issue.
Negotiators have so far been unable to get Pyongyang to commit to verification
measures in writing. While the U.S. claims Pyongyang agreed to allow outside
inspectors to take samples and conduct forensic tests at all of its declared
nuclear facilities as well as undeclared sites, North Korea says it only agreed
to let experts "view" its Yongbyon complex.
hayney@yna.co.kr

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