A South Korean protester burns pictures of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and North Korean flag during a rally opposing North's nuclear program near the U.S. embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Feb. 9, 2007.
Photo: AP
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N. Korea May Halt Nuclear Facility in April
North Korea is ready to suspend operation at its key nuclear plant within two months in exchange for energy aid. The respective agreement was attained at the six-party talks held in Beijing, Reuters reported.
The six-party talks on North Korean nuclear program that are currenly underway in Beijing involve two Koreas, China, Japan, the United States and Russia. The previous round was held past December 18-22, but yielded no results.
At the present round, the negotiators will split into groups, each of which developing an option to support North Korea. The parties will consider, for instance, the prospects of rendering economic assistance to North Korea and cooperating with it on security in North-East Asia.
North Korea is ready to go through initial steps towards disarmament, Kim Kye Gwan said a day before. Kim Kye Gwan is the vice foreign minister of North Korea and its chief negotiator at six-party talks. The outcome of the talks depends on whether the United States abandons its hostile policy and advances to peaceful coexistence with North Korea, the diplomat specified.
Informal reports about North Korean intention to suspend operation at its key nuclear plant in return for the annual supplies of 500,000 tons of crude appeared a few days ago. According to the media reports, Kim Kye Gwan came up with that proposal when meeting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill in late January. At that get-together, North Korean diplomat called for lifting all economic sanctions imposed on North Korea and crossing it out of the U.S. list of states funding terrorism.
In size, the crude demanded by Pyongyang exceeds the quantity provided to North Korea under the treaty sealed with Washington in 1994. Those supplies were terminated in 2002.
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