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N Korea nuke delay 'technical'
21/02/2008 14:21 - (SA)
Beijing - North Korea insists stalled progress in dismantling its nuclear programmes is due to "technical issues" and not a lack of political willingness, a South Korean envoy said on Thursday.
"North Korea said it will do what it has to do, and that this is not because they don't have the willingness, nor do they call it a deadlocked situation," Chun Yung-woo told reporters after talks in Beijing with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye Gwan.
"It is being delayed due to technical issues, not because it has some political purpose in it," Chun said.
He gave no details of any technical issues North Korea may have cited.
American researchers who visited the complex earlier this month reported that officials there said they had slowed the removal of fuel rods because the US and other nations have fallen behind in supplying aid promised under a disarmament deal last year.
North Korea will stick to their pledge
Chun said Kim reassured him that North Korea is willing to implement the six-nation agreement, in which it pledged to give a complete declaration of its nuclear programmes in exchange for aid and other concessions.
"We discussed about what to do next in the meeting. North Korea said they are ready to participate in (a new round of) the six-party talks if the date is set," he said.
China, which hosts the disarmament talks, acknowledged the current obstacles but is committed to the denuclearisation process, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Jianchao said at a regular news conference on Thursday.
"Currently there are some difficulties in the process but relevant parties still have the political will to honour their commitment," he said.
The US says North Korea has failed to provide a full account of its nuclear programmes.
North Korea insists it has already done so, but the US says the North is trying to gloss over known facts from its long history of seeking to develop nuclear arms.
Sharing nuclear secrets
At a meeting earlier this week, Kim repeated that Pyongyang is not sharing nuclear technology with other countries.
North Korea has been accused of providing nuclear assistance to Syria, although Damascus denies it has an undeclared atomic program.
On Thursday, US envoy Christopher Hill said that multilateral talks cannot resume until Pyongyang has fulfilled its requirement.
"Obviously, we are having some difficulties right now getting what we need, which is a complete and correct declaration," Hill said.
"I think the sequence of events is they give a complete and correct declaration, (then) China calls a meeting to discuss the declaration."
Hill was in Tokyo after visiting Beijing and Seoul to prepare for a trip next week by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the region.
- AP
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