By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
Officials said Sunday that the upcoming six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions scheduled for late this week in Beijing will likely produce an agreement on a roadmap to the dismantling of its Yongbyon nuclear facilities.
Lim Sung-nam, South Korea's No. 2 nuclear negotiator, said talks between North Korea and a U.S.-led team of nuclear experts were positive after he was briefed Saturday by the experts following their return from a five-day trip to North Korea.
``The talks between the United States and the North were conducted in a businesslike manner with a very positive atmosphere,'' Lim told reporters. ``Additional consultations and a decision are expected at the six-party talks.''
Lim's remarks put hopes up for the nuclear talks, reportedly slated for Wednesday, to bring a concrete agreement with North Korea on how to disable its nuclear facilities by the end of this year. The talks involve the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.
A nine-member team from the United States, China and Russia, who inspected the Yongbyon nuclear complex, agreed on a detailed draft for the dismantlement with North Korea, according to officials.
The draft will be reported to the talks, and the parties will finalize their agreement based on the draft during the six-nation talks.
Christopher Hill, the top U.S. nuclear negotiator, said at a briefing at the State Department, Friday, that the experts have been able to work very closely with the North Koreans, enough so that the United States believes there's a basis for sitting down in the plenary six-party talks, and working out the dismantlement process.
``On the basis of their report to the six parties, we would then try to draw up a sort of work plan which would get us to the end of the calendar year 2007 and would result in the full declaration of their nuclear programs and their dismantlement of the programs,'' Hill said.
In a working group meeting on the North's denuclearization last month, the parties suggested a dismantlement plan to the North, and much of the plan was reflected in the draft.
``We have a concrete plan to disable the nuclear facilities in Yongbyon, but we have to go through the six-party talks,'' an official said, requesting anonymity.
The disablement of the nuclear facilities is the second phase of the denuclearization process and would reap economic aid and political concessions as per the agreement reached on Feb. 13, 2007. The North shut down its main reactor in Yongbyon in July as the first step.
Meanwhile, some said the six-party talks will face a challenge from recent suspicions that North Korea cooperated with Syria to develop nuclear weapons.
Hill said such allegations are an important reminder of the need to accelerate the six-party process.