hankyoreh

The latest round of six-nation negotiations to denuclearize North Korea went into a recess on Sunday as the top envoys were trying to establish a detailed roadmap for the communist nation to disable its key nuclear facilities before the end of the year.

Wu Dawei, the Chinese host and chairman of the negotiations, said the talks were going into a two-day recess to give the envoys time to consult with their capitals on what has been agreed so far.

Chun Yung-woo, South Korea's lead envoy, later said the envoys had "dramatically" agreed on a joint statement, though it is still subject to approval by the governments of the two Koreas, the U.S.,

Japan, China and Russia.

"An agreement that specifies action plans for the second-phase denuclearization measures was dramatically reached today after substantive consultations among the six parties," Chun told a press briefing.

"Because some of the delegations need approval by the governments of their countries, the countries decided to take a two-day recess to give time for the delegations to consult with their governments," he added, noting some of the top envoys will return to their countries.

The South Korean envoy said it was not clear whether the head delegates would reconvene after the recess, but that a process to officially announce the joint statement will be needed if the document is approved by all sides.

The latest round of the six-way talks opened here on Thursday, as the countries tried to set up a detailed roadmap for Pyongyang to disable its nuclear facilities under a landmark aid-for-denuclearization accord signed in February.

North Korea in July shut down five key nuclear facilities under the February accord, which calls on the communist nation to disable those facilities and submit a full list of its nuclear programs.

Christopher Hill, the chief U.S. envoy, earlier expressed concern that there may not be any concrete progress in the latest round.

He said he was "pleasantly surprised" on Sunday when the nuclear envoys agreed to what the Chinese hosts called a "common document," according to an official at the U.S. Embassy here.

"The joint statement was very comprehensive...There are lots of details. It is very useful," Hill told reporters at Beijing's international airport before heading back to Washington.

Japan's chief nuclear envoy Kenichiro Sasae was scheduled to return home on Monday, according to South Korean officials here.

One of the key issues for this round was establishment of a deadline for Pyongyang to complete implementing the next phase of denuclearization.

According to Chun, the China-drafted joint statement says the North must complete the process "by December 31," a timeframe the chief U.S. envoy has called "very ambitious, but doable."

The talks earlier hit a new stumbling block as the North demanded that it be taken off the U.S. list of terrorism-sponsoring states, reportedly by the same date.

Chun noted the joint statement also lays out measures to be taken by Washington to reward the communist nation, but said it does not specify a deadline for the U.S. action.

"There is no timeline (for the removal of North Korea from the U.S. list) in the statement, but that has already been agreed between the two sides and they both know by when that should take place," Chun told the press briefing.

The latest dispute over North Korea's nuclear ambition erupted in late 2002 when the U.S. accused the North of running a clandestine nuclear arms program.

The issue of resolving the crisis gained urgency in October 2006 when the communist nation set off a nuclear device.


BEIJING, Sept. 30 (Yonhap)