By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
A compromise is unlikely soon between the United States and North Korea on verifying the communist country's nuclear disarmament, a senior government official said Wednesday.
Pyongyang remains stubborn on the verification system, and this has delayed its removal from the U.S. list of terrorism sponsoring states, the Foreign Ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
North Korea's foreign ministry said it will increase vigilance against unjust U.S. demands over talks on ending the North's nuclear programs, claiming the ongoing South Korea-U.S. military exercises are aimed at launching a preemptive nuclear attack against the communist state, according to the Yonhap News Agency.
``The U.S. and North Korea are consulting on the verification protocol, but it seems difficult for the two sides to reach a compromise soon,'' the official told reporters.
``But I don't want to describe this situation as pessimistic since these kinds of difficulties are a kind of ritual when it comes to negotiations with North Korea.''
He said North Korea agreed in principle to cooperate with the establishment of a protocol for international inspectors to verify its nuclear declaration made in June, but failed to implement it by refusing to cooperate on drawing up the protocol.
Chief nuclear envoys from the United States, South Korea and Japan recently discussed how to persuade the North to accept a U.S.-proposed verification protocol, he added, referring to Seoul envoy Kim Sook's recent trips to Washington and Tokyo for talks.
South Korea wants the second-phase denuclearization process to be completed and the third and final phase on the full disablement of North Korea's nuclear facilities to begin by year's end, said the official.
In a meeting with reporters, Kim said now is the time for ``patience'' in talks on the verification system.
``I think more time is needed for the U.S. and North Korea to narrow their differences,'' he said. ``China could play a constructive role in this process.''
China is the host nation for the six-party forum involving the United States, the two Koreas, Japan and Russia aimed at ending the North's nuclear ambition.
Negotiators from the six nations have stepped up meetings on breaking the deadlock over the verification.
North Korea in June submitted an inventory of its nuclear materials and programs, prompting U.S. President George W. Bush to give the minimum 45-day notice to Congress of his intent to remove the North from the list of terrorism sponsors. That deadline passed Aug. 11.
The delisting is crucial for Pyongyang since Washington has banned the impoverished communist country from receiving foreign aid and loans. North Korea was put on the list in 1988 after its agents blew up a South Korean passenger plane, killing all 115 people aboard.
The Bush administration cited insufficient progress made in finding ways to verify the nuclear declaration. The declaration contains less detail on the North's alleged secret uranium enrichment program and nuclear proliferation, it said.
Washington also wants to know how many nuclear weapons Pyongyang has.
The North has threatened to break its earlier promise to disable its nuclear facilities by the end of October unless Washington delists it and lifts sanctions. Instead, Pyongyang is urging other six-party members to provide energy aid under the denuclearization accord by that time.
Under the Feb. 13 agreement, North Korea is required to abandon its nuclear programs in return for economic aid and political concessions from the other five parties. On the economic front, the North will receive one million tons of heavy fuel oil or its equivalent in aid.
Japan has refused to provide aid and opposes the North's delisting over Pyongyang's kidnapping of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 80s.
Pyongyang and Tokyo last week agreed on procedures for a reinvestigation into the fate of the abductees.