By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
The top U.S. nuclear envoy Tuesday urged North Korea to completely declare all its nuclear weapons programs even though the Stalinist country failed to meet a 2007 deadline.
``A key issue is the DPRK's requirement to give us a correct and complete declaration. It is pretty clear that they are not ready to do that,'' Christopher Hill told reporters in Seoul.
He further said that he is not too much concerned about the country being late as long as North Korea submits a correct list of nuclear programs.
Pyongyang was supposed to submit a full list of its nuclear weapons programs and disable its key nuclear facilities by the end of 2007 under an agreement reached in the six-party talks. But it failed to meet the deadline even though in return it was to receive economic aid and political concessions such as the normalization of relations with the United States.
Hill said the disablement, a key part of the second phase in the denuclearization process, has gone well despite some delays attributable to safety and technical factors.
Amid the delayed declaration, Hill held a discussion with his South Korean counterpart, Chun Yung-woo, over dinner following his arrival in Seoul from Tokyo.
A diplomatic source said, ``The two chief negotiators discussed the next step to move forward the six-party process despite the unfulfilled declaration. In particular, the main issue was how to successfully urge North Korea to make a complete declaration.''
Seoul and Washington are mulling over holding a meeting of chief negotiators in Beijing probably after mid-January in order to pressure Pyongyang.
Hill also said, ``I will be meeting my counterpart Deputy Minister Wu Dawei. I will hear from him whether he has a target date for the next six-party talks.''
On his first leg of the tour in Tokyo, Hill criticized North Korea for not fully declaring its nuclear programs.
Japan's chief nuclear envoy, Kenichiro Sasae, is scheduled to visit Seoul Thursday for separate talks on the legal status of ethnic Koreans in Japan. But it is not yet confirmed whether the three negotiators will meet in Seoul.
Hill to Meet President-Elect
In a separate move, Hill will meet with President-elect Lee Myung-bak Thursday to discuss bilateral issues such as the Seoul-Washington free trade agreement as well as the North Korea nuclear issue.
Lee's aides confirmed the meeting, saying that it was arranged at the request of the United States, and combines the dual roles of Hill as chief nuclear negotiator and assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs.
On the first day of his three-day visit to Seoul, Hill mainly played the top U.S. nuclear envoy, meeting with Seoul officials on the matter. But the last day will be the time for Hill to seek better relations in general between Seoul and Washington with Lee.
Officials of the presidential transition committee said that Hill will meet Lee not as special envoy of U.S. President George W. Bush but as assistant secretary because their meeting will likely cover broad bilateral issues.
Hill will leave for Beijing on Thursday and travel to Moscow on Friday. He will return to Washington on Saturday.
He is not scheduled to travel to Pyongyang but still has a chance to meet his North Korean counterpart in Beijing.