Talks on North Korea's nuclear plans
The chief US negotiator at international talks on North Korea’s nuclear programme plans to meet his North Korean counterpart in Germany today for a second day of talks aimed at ending an international standoff.
US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill and the North’s Kim Kye Gwan met yesterday in Berlin for several hours, the US State Department said.
What kind of progress the Berlin discussions would bring to the nuclear talks “will be determined after viewing the results of the meeting, since they plan to meet again today,” South Korea’s Foreign Minister Song Min-soon said today.
“The meeting should produce the groundwork for reaching agreements on measures to implement the initial steps of” a September 2005 agreement, in which the North agreed to give up its nuclear programme in exchange for aid and security guarantees, Song said.
The foreign minister said more such bilateral contacts between countries involved in the nuclear talks would be possible in the future if they help produce “tangible and visible results.”
The latest round of talks – which were held after a yearlong hiatus – ended in December without any agreement on disarmament or a new date for further talks. The talks involve the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the US
Officials from other delegations have said North Korean negotiators refused to talk about the country’s nuclear programme until the US ends its campaign to sever Pyongyang’s access to international financial institutions for its alleged counterfeiting and money laundering.
