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US confident can assess NKorea plutonium despite talks delay: envoy
Tokyo (AFP) Oct 19, 2008 The top US nuclear envoy said he remained confident of learning how much plutonium North Korea had produced but added the next round of disarmament talks was unlikely to be held this month, in an interview published Sunday. US diplomat Christopher Hill, who visited Pyongyang earlier this month, also told the Asahi Shimbun that he felt "something happened" to the decision-making process in North Korea, amid reports that leader Kim Jong-Il had been seriously ill. He said logistical and scheduling difficulties had prevented the six parties to the disarmament talks from organising a new round in October. The nuclear disarmament pact got back on track last week after the United States took North Korea off its list of state sponsors of terrorism, saying an agreement had been reached on steps to verify Pyongyang's nuclear disarmament. In the interview in Hawaii, Hill said determining the amount of weapons grade plutonium was the most important issue for the forum, which involves the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States. Disablement of North Korea's nuclear facilities should be completed by the end of this year, a bit later than officials had hoped, Hill told the paper. "I would think sometime (in the) next couple of months, we can get it done," he said, according to the English-language transcript of the interview. After disablement, the nuclear reactor has to be emptied of its fuel for "the most important verification element" of inspecting the reactor itself, he said. Hill said scientific procedures could determine how much plutonium the reactor had produced in its lifetime. In addition to plutonium produced at the main Yongbyon reactor, the US was trying to assess how much test materials were produced at an experimental reactor during the 1990s, Hill said. He also said Pyongyang had agreed to grant access to nuclear sites that might have gone undeclared so far. The UN envoy gave the interview as speculation intensified over the fate of North Korean leader Kim amid reports he was believed to have suffered a stroke or some other serious illness. Japanese media reported at the weekend that Pyongyang had ordered its diplomats around the world to stay close to their embassies for an "important announcement," possibly on Monday. "We certainly have impressions that something happened there, but it's not something you could easily see visiting there," Hill said when asked what he knew about Kim's health. "What was clear was we had some troubles getting answers from North Korea in August and answers came more quickly in September or the beginning of October. So whatever happened, they seemed to be making decisions again," said Hill, who visited Pyongyang October 1-3. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Share This Article With Planet Earth
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NKorea must change to ease massive malnutrition: Seoul official
Seoul (AFP) Oct 17, 2008South Korea is willing to give the North unconditional food aid but the communist state must fundamentally change its system to end massive long-term malnutrition, a senior official said Friday. |
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