By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
Foreign ministers from six nations involved in multinational talks over North Korea's nuclear weapons program met Wednesday on the sidelines of an annual Asian security forum in Singapore to help expedite Pyongyang's long-stalled disarmament process.
It was the first such meeting between foreign ministers from the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia since the six-party talks began in August 2003, Seoul officials said. The informal meeting was organized by China, the host nation for the nuclear talks.
The six top diplomats, attending the ASEAN Regional Forum, exchanged their views on how to verify North Korea's recent declaration of its nuclear programs, including its weapons-grade plutonium programs, the officials said.
The ministers also discussed establishing a permanent peace regime in Northeast Asia after North Korea's denuclearization, they said.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed hope earlier that the six-party foreign ministers' meeting would gauge North Korea's commitment to disarmament.
She also urged North Korea to address other issues regarding its nuclear weapons programs, such as an alleged uranium enrichment program and possible nuclear proliferation to other nations, including Syria.
Pyongyang has been given a four-page draft document detailing what the United States wants the communist state to prove that it has told the truth about its past atomic programs, a key element in a disarmament-for-aid deal reached last year.
Under the so-called Feb. 13 pact, North Korea is required to abandon all its nuclear programs in return for economic and diplomatic incentives from other participating nations in the six-way forum. On the economic front, the North was to receive one million tons of heavy fuel oil or its equivalent in aid.
Washington has promised to take Pyongyang off its list of states sponsoring terrorism and remove financial sanctions against it.
The draft calls for thorough inspections of North Korean nuclear facilities, soil sampling, interviews with key scientists and a role for U.N. atomic experts.
The proposals were presented to North Korea by chief U.S. nuclear envoy, Christopher Hill, and representatives of the other four nations pushing for the denulcearization effort during a new round of six-party talks in Beijing earlier this month.
Ri Dong-il of North Korea's Foreign Ministry called on the United States to fully abandon its ``hostile policy'' toward his country in order for nuclear disarmament talks to move to the next step.
``The next important step is for the U.S. to completely and fundamentally abandon its hostile policy and lift its sanctions on North Korea,'' said Ri. ``As recently agreed at the six-party talks, we will discuss at the current phase how to complete the second-phase measures.''
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said, ``I think this will be very significant for advancing the spirit of the six-party talks.''
Rice, however, played this down, saying it was just an informal gathering aimed at reviewing the disarmament progress.
``I wouldn't call it either historic, monumental or even consequential. I think it's really in the consultation category,'' she said.