Six-party talks stall over excessive N. Korean demand

Posted on : 2007-02-11 21:04 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST

Six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program were dragged into a fourth day on Sunday, as negotiators vented increasing frustration at what they believed excessive North Korean demand for energy aid in exchange for its first steps to disarm.

Japan's chief delegate Kenichiro Sasae confirmed that the North's drastically upped compensation demand is a single last remaining hurdle to this round of talks which began on Thursday.

Other countries involved include the U.S., South Korea, host China and Russia.

"The issue is energy aid, rather than economic assistance," Japan's Kyodo News Agency quoted Sasae as telling reporters as he began his Sunday schedule. "The problem is that North Korea has excessive expectations about this, and unless it reconsiders this issue, an agreement will be difficult."

Citing unidentified sources, Kyodo earlier had reported that North Korea was demanding 2 million kilowatts of electricity plus 2 million tons of fuel oil annually.

Under a 1994 deal with the U.S. designed to defuse its first nuclear crisis, North Korea was promised nuclear reactors with a combined generating capacity of 2 million kilowatts, and 500,000 tons of heavy oil as interim energy aid.

The deal fell through in late 2002 when U.S. officials accused the North of pushing a secret uranium-based arms program, in addition to its acknowledged plutonium-based one, a charge denied by the North.

The US$4.6 billion reactor project was about 40 percent complete when it was officially scrapped early last year.

Coming into this round of talks, analysts say, energy-hungry North Korea appeared to believe that it has more leverage after its first-ever nuclear test in October. The U.S. and Japan previously had reservations about giving rewards at the early stage of the North's denuclearization.

Christopher Hill, the chief U.S. negotiator, declined to disclose details but acknowledged that there remains only one unresolved issue, which he said could be overcome in "another day or two."

His South Korean counterpart, Chun Young-woo, said last week that the North must be ready to demonstrate its willingness to denuclearize with action, but also said the other nations "must be ready to take corresponding measures. That is when an agreement is possible."

However, Sasae and other delegates have warned that a deal could be elusive unless North Korea lowers the level of its expectations.

The basis of the discussions is a Chinese proposal broached two days ago that calls for North Korea to get energy aid in exchange for taking early steps to disarm. The North Korean end of the deal would require it to shut down its key nuclear facilities, including a plutonium-producing 5 megawatt nuclear reactor.

Chosun Sinbo, a pro-North Korean newspaper published in Japan, has reported that the U.S. and other countries must be prepared to give more to the North if they want the country to take more steps in the initial phase.

Beijing, Feb. 11 (Yonhap News)

Most viewed articles