By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
North Korea will likely fail to keep its promise of declaring all its nuclear programs by the end of the year as the communist country and the United States differ over the scope of the program list to be disclosed.
North Korea should disable its key nuclear facilities in Yongbyon and disclose its entire nuclear program this month under an agreement reached at the six-party talks. In return, it will get economic aid and political concessions such as the normalization of relations with the United States.
``All parties to the talks consider the North Korea's disablement process is going well but there is some problem with the declaration,'' a diplomatic source told The Korea Times Wednesday. ``Under these circumstances, North Korea will likely miss the year-end deadline because we don't have many days left this year.''
The North's sole operational nuclear reactor and other plutonium-producing facilities in Yongbyon are expected to be disabled before the end of the year, according to Seoul officials though they noted some of the activities to incapacitate the facilities may continue into the New Year due to technical reasons.
Pyongyang also prepared a list of its nuclear programs several weeks ago at least, according to U.S. and South Korean officials, but the list is unacceptable to the United States, which believes it is incomplete.
The North's failure to meet the deadline will pose a snag to the timetable of North Korea's denuclearization set by the six-party talks which involve the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan.
Under the agreements, North Korea shut down the Yongbyon nuclear complex last summer as a first step toward denuclearization, and the disablement together with the declaration is a second step, following a third and last step of dismantlement of nuclear facilities in 2008.
Seoul officials said North Korea sometimes delays its commitment and what's more important is that the reclusive country should fully declare the list of nuclear programs.
The deadlock comes amid North Korea's criticism of the United States for two days in a row, Wednesday.
The North's main state-controlled Rodong Shinmun newspaper said, ``The U.S. policy on North Korea is an aggressive policy based on military power, which is the main reason for tension on the Korean Peninsula.''
The newspaper also said that the United States increased its military capability in order to attack North Korea.
Some political observers expressed concerns that the delayed declaration may be intended because North Korea suddenly began criticizing the United States.
Meanwhile, North Korea has kept silent on the Dec. 19 victory of conservative President-elect Lee Myung-bak for a week.
Scholars regard the silence as a wait-and-see period because the advent of Lee, who stresses more reciprocity than engagement with North Korea, basically ushers in challenging era, ending the 10-year ``sunshine policy.''
``North Korea is probably watching the situation with concern over the conservative President-elect,'' said Paik Hak-soon, director of the North Korean studies program at the Sejong Institute in Seoul.
Aides to Lee also made it clear that inter-Korean economic cooperation projects agreed at the inter-Korean summit in October will be reconsidered unless North Korea fully declares its list of nuclear programs.