By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
North Korea’s denuclearization is picking up steam as the timelines for closing the North’s plutonium-producing reactor and the fresh round of six-party nuclear talks have almost been set.
Christopher Hill, the chief U.S. delegate at the six-party disarmament talks, said Saturday North Korea could shut down its main nuclear reactor in Yongbyon within three weeks after the U.N. nuclear inspectors and Pyongyang agree on how to monitor the process next week.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced Friday that a group of its inspectors will arrive in Pyongyang Tuesday to discuss the shutdown of the Yongbyon reactor.
``We do expect this to be soon, probably within three weeks though I don’t want to be pinned down on precisely the date,’’ the U.S. assistant secretary of states told reporters in Tokyo.
He made the remarks after briefing his Japanese counterpart, Kenichiro Sansae, on the outcome of his two-day surprise trip to Pyongyang late last week.
Hill said the next round of the six-party talks involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia could begin in early July, though the exact timing hinged on scheduling by China, the host nation.
Hill, however, was cautious, stressing shutting the reactor was the only the first step.
``Shutting down the reactor won’t solve all our problems, but in order to solve our problems we need to make this beginning,’’ he said. ``We really think this is the time to pick up the pace.’’
North Korea’s Foreign Ministry backed up Hill’s expectation.
Describing Hill’s visit to the North Korean capital as ``comprehensive and productive,’’ North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency carried the foreign ministry’s statement that the U.S. and North Korea would seek a meeting of foreign ministers from the participating countries of the six-party talks on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum slated for early August in the Philippines.
The agency also said six-party chief delegates are expected to meet in early July.
``Both sides shared the views that they would start implementing the (February) agreement on the premise that the issue of the remittance of the funds is finally settled,’’ said the agency.
Under the first phase of the Feb. 13 agreement, the communist regime is required to shut down and seal the reactor and allowing IAEA inspectors back into the country to verify the process. In return, the North would get 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil and other political concessions.
In the next phase, North Korea is obligated to make a complete declaration to the IAEA and other participating nations at the six-party talks about its nuclear programs before dismantling the reactor. In exchange, Pyongyang would receive economic assistance equivalent to another 950,000 tons of heavy oil.
But the denuclearization deal has not been materialized as Pyongyang failed to meet the April 14 deadline for initial steps, citing a banking dispute involving $25 million once frozen in the U.S.-blacklisted Banco Delta Asia in Macau.
The funds were freed earlier this year, but only last week started to be transferred to a Russian bank.
Russia’ Foreign Ministry confirmed Saturday that the transfer of the money has been completed, removing an obstacle to the February deal.
``We consider that the participants of the six-party process will now be able to move towards practical actions aimed at realizing the Beijing agreements of February 13, 2007,’’ it said in a statement.
Chun Young-woo, South Korea’s top nuclear envoy, will visit the United States to discuss measures to accelerate the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula this week, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Sunday.