hankyoreh

North Korea made clear it would live up to last month's denuclearization deal and was willing to look ahead to the next stage when it will have to come clean on all the nuclear weapons and programs in its possession, a U.S. envoy said Tuesday.

Christopher Hill, assistant secretary of state who led the U.S. side in the two-day diplomatic normalization talks with North Korea, said he wants to start expert-level talks soon with Pyongyang to address the North's uranium-based weapons program.

Hill and his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye-gwan had some eight hours of "working group" negotiations, and they were both upbeat about the results.

"I would say these were very good discussions... I think they were very comprehensive," the U.S. envoy said in a news conference following the talks.

Kim called the talks "very good, constructive and sincere."

"Wait and see about the results," he told reporters. "If I say everything now, it would not be fun anymore."

Hill and Kim are their countries' representatives to the six-party talks on the North's nuclear programs. Under the Feb. 13 agreement at the talks, which also involve South Korea, China, Russia and Japan, Pyongyang is required to shut down and seal its primary nuclear reactor that churns out weapons-grade plutonium and allow international inspectors to monitor the reactor.

In return, other parties would initially provide heavy fuel oil and follow up with other political and economic assistance.

The agreement also established five working groups, including one on North Korea-U.S. diplomatic normalization.

The Feb. 13 deal only maps out the first phase of the denuclearization, which would have Pyongyang shut down and declare all of its nuclear weapons and programs and disable them.

"It was useful for me to hear their plans for how they will proceed to the next stage," said Hill. "So I think we also have the will to move to the next stage."

North Korea's uranium enrichment program, the other suspected weapons program whose level of advancement is a matter of dispute by intelligence, has to be addressed, the U.S. envoy reiterated, and Pyongyang's officials understood.

"In fact, they raised it, the need that we address this HEU (highly enriched uranium) matter before the declaration," he said.

"We are going to work out how we can get some experts to meet with some of their people and begin an expert-level discussion that will get to the bottom of this matter."

The working group talks begin a process that, if successful, would end over a half century of animosity dating back to the 1950-1953 Korean War when the two countries fought against each other.

North Korea has been on the U.S. State Department list of nations that sponsor terrorism since 1988, and the Trading with the Enemy Act heavily restricts bilateral economic exchanges.

Also standing in the way are suspicions on North Korea's illicit activities that allegedly range from counterfeiting of American currency and cigarettes to money laundering.

Hill said the diplomatic normalization talks are linked to progress in the denuclearization process.

"I can't predict when the last piece of fissile material will be taken out of North Korea," said Hill.

"I think if we can get it in a way that we are moving every month, I think we will be okay," he said.

Asked about the possibility of the U.S. opening a liaison office in Pyongyang as an interim step before full normalization, the envoy said it was unlikely.

"This was a model that China had, and China felt it was a very successful model in terms of U.S.-China relations," he said.

"I don't think that view is shared by (North Korea)."


New York, March 6 (Yonhap News)