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NKorea to Allow U.N. Inspections
FOSTER KLUG
AP
Monday April 9, 2007
PYONGYANG, North Korea -- North Korea's top nuclear negotiator
told a visiting American delegation Monday that U.N. inspectors
would be invited back once $25 million in frozen funds are released,
but said it could be difficult for Pyongyang to meet a Saturday
deadline for shutting down its main nuclear reactor.
The impoverished North has refused to move forward on February's
landmark agreement due to the delayed transfer of the funds, which
were frozen by Macau authorities after the U.S. blacklisted privately
run Banco Delta Asia in 2005 for allegedly helping Pyongyang launder
money.
On Monday, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan met
with Bill Richardson, a Democratic presidential candidate, and Anthony
Principi, President Bush's former veteran affairs secretary, who
were visiting Pyongyang.
Kim "indicated that the North Korean government would invite
the ... inspectors back the moment the funds are released to the
North Korean government," Principi told reporters after the
meeting.
Kim also told the delegation of the difficulty of shutting down
the regime's main nuclear reactor by a Saturday deadline called
for in the February nuclear disarmament accord, he said.
"They can make a beginning, but whether they can completely
shut down a nuclear reactor in such a short time would be very difficult,"
Principi said.
Christopher Hill, the top U.S. nuclear envoy, in Tokyo for talks
with his Japanese counterpart, said Monday that the U.S. would still
push Pyongyang to fully meet its obligations under the agreement.
"There's no such thing as partial implementation," Hill
said.
But, he acknowledged that the "timeline is becoming difficult"
in getting the North Koreans to meet the deadline.
The U.S. delegation, which also includes Victor Cha, Bush's top
adviser on North Korea, is on a four-day trip to Pyongyang to recover
remains of American servicemen killed in the Korean War. Richardson,
governor of New Mexico and a former ambassador to the U.N., said
Sunday he had no intention of negotiating nuclear matters.
There has been little progress in implementing the landmark Feb.
13 nuclear agreement in which North Korea promised to take initial
steps toward dismantling its nuclear program, including closing
its main nuclear reactor and providing a full list of its nuclear
facilities.
Last week, the State Department said that a hitch stalling the
release of the funds had been resolved, potentially clearing the
way for the disbursement of the money. No details were released
on when or how the money would be transferred.
Macau government spokeswoman Elena Au said Monday that she had
no immediate comment. Calls to Macau's monetary authority and Banco
Delta Asia went unanswered.
Richardson said his delegation pushed Kim for a show of good faith
that North Korea was ready to move forward in it obligations under
the Feb. 13 deal. He said the U.S. side asked for a meeting of the
six nations involved in nuclear disarmament talks before Saturday,
when Pyongyang is supposed to shut down its nuclear reactor and
let in U.N. nuclear inspectors.
"Our negotiators are ready to meet with the North Koreans
immediately so that this effort to dismantle their nuclear weapons
is concluded," Richardson said.
He said he was hoping to travel to Yongbyon, 55 miles north of
Pyongyang, to inspect the reactor, but there were a lot of "political
issues involved." He did not elaborate.
Reporters were allowed to view the first minutes of the meeting.
Kim said that the visit was the first one that included both Democratic
and Republican American officials since Bush took office.
"In light of current international relations and DPRK-US relations,
your current visit to our country is of very great significance,"
Kim said through an interpreter.
Richardson has regularly made diplomatic trips, often on his own
initiative, to a number of global hot spots. Though visits to North
Korea by senior U.S. officials are rare, this was Richardson's sixth.
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