The chief U.S. envoy on North Korea's nuclear disarmament says
Pyongyang will soon deliver a long-delayed declaration of its nuclear
activities, paving the way for a resumption of formal disarmament talks.
U.S.
Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill made the announcement
Friday in Beijing after a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Wu
Dawei. Hill told reporters the six-nation disarmament talks could
start shortly after the North's declaration is received.
He
arrived in Beijing from Japan where he met Japanese and South Korean
officials to discuss the formal talks to be hosted by China.
After
the meeting, Japan's Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said Tokyo was
willing to accept an incomplete declaration from North Korea so the
talks can move forward.
The declaration is part of an agreement to dismantle North Korea's nuclear program in exchange for energy assistance.
South
Korea's Yonhap news agency says North Korea is expected to issue the
declaration next week. A government official says the U.S. has agreed
to take steps to remove the regime from its list of
terrorism-sponsoring nations, in exchange for the list.
Yonhap
is also quoting a diplomatic source close to the talks, who says
Pyongyang wants the United States and the other four nations involved
in the talks (Japan, Russia, South Korea and China) to shoulder the
financial burden of destroying a cooling tower at its Yongbyon nuclear
complex.
Pyongyang was to hand over a full declaration of all its nuclear activities by the end of 2007.
The
U.S. State Department says a visit to the Korean peninsula last week by
its Korean affairs director, Sung Kim, yielded an agreement to speed up
nuclear disablement.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
