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US prepares new nuclear talks
01/01/2008 09:19 - (SA)
Washington - The US government said on Monday it was preparing new consultations with its partners after North Korea failed to meet a year-end deadline to come clean on its nuclear programmes.
State Department spokesperson Tom Casey confirmed that the Stalinist state had failed to deliver a declaration detailing its atomic activity by the December 31 deadline set out under a six-nation agreement.
"There has been no last-minute change," he told reporters. "It's unfortunate but we are going to keep on working on this.
"I expect there will be some consultations on this over the next few days among the parties to see how we want to proceed from here," Casey said.
"We're still committed to getting a declaration, and we want that declaration to be full and complete."
The State Department's top envoy on the issue, Christopher Hill, is expected to hold telephone talks with his counterparts from Japan, South Korea, China and Russia in the coming days, Casey said.
Under the six-nation pact, North Korea was required to disable its main nuclear plants by December 31 and declare all its nuclear programmes and weaponry.
In exchange, the other parties had agreed to co-operate in economic and energy assistance to North Korea.
Japan and South Korea also expressed regret at the delay, which came amid a report that the communist state has slowed down the disabling work it began in November.
- AFP
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