I am always sceptical about deals with North Korea. Neither side has any trust in the other. So far this deal seems to be going reasonably well. I find it quite surprising.
N. Korea Nuclear Accord Reached
Side Deal With U.S. Involves Terror List
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 3, 2007; 10:20 AM
North Korea will disable key nuclear facilities by the end of the year and start disclosing details of its nuclear programs under a six-nation agreement released today in China. The deal appears to have been aided by a "side understanding" between Washington and Pyongyang that could accelerate the removal of North Korea from a U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The United States also appeared willing to accept, initially, more limited action than it originally sought to disable three key nuclear facilities at Yongbyon, with the understanding that additional work to incapacitate the facilities would occur later. In exchange, North Korea is expected to disclose the extent of its weapons-grade plutonium, including how much was used in a nuclear test last year.
According to the text of the document, released by China's official Xinhua news agency, North Korea agreed to disable the 5 megawatt experimental reactor at Yongbyon, a fuel reprocessing plant, and a nuclear fuel rod facility by Dec. 31. The work will be paid for and overseen by the U.S. Alongside that commitment, the document says that the U.S. will "begin the process of removing" North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism and lifting trade sanctions.
The actions outlined by the document are "a major step towards the goal of achieving the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula" and would "effectively end" North Korea's production of plutonium, said White House National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe, the Associated Press reported.
Under the agreement, North Korea also will allow nuclear experts from Russia, China and the United States to examine aluminum tubes procured from Russia that could have been used in a uranium-enrichment program, diplomats said.
But diplomats said it is unclear whether North Korea will admit to acquiring centrifuges for use in such a program, as the United States has charged. The Bush administration in 2002 accused North Korea of having a clandestine uranium-enrichment program, and the accusation led to the collapse of a 1994 deal that had frozen the facilities at Yongbyon.
The flurry of diplomatic activity, coming nearly a year after North Korea shocked Asia by conducting its first nuclear test, demonstrates both increasing flexibility by the Bush administration in its waning months and increased willingness by North Korea to close parts of its nuclear program for potential economic benefits.
The Bush administration had once insisted on "complete, verifiable, irreversible dismantlement" before North Korea could receive benefits, but it has significantly moderated its stance since the North Korean nuclear test.
China released the text of the agreement Wednesday, after President Bush formally gave his approval yesterday during a breakfast meeting with Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill, the chief negotiator; Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Vice President Cheney; and three other top officials. Hill flew back from Beijing, the site of talks that included South Korea, Japan and Russia, to brief Bush on the details.
Removing North Korea from the terrorism list would be a largely symbolic move, but it is highly prized by the North Korean government. It is problematic for Japan, which wants North Korea to first settle questions concerning the abductions of Japanese citizens by North Korean agents. North Korea has pressed for an exact date, but diplomats said no date appears in the final text.
Pyongyang also wants to be free of financial sanctions imposed by the U.S. Trading With the Enemy Act, a 1917 law that allows for a near-total economic boycott of countries at war with the United States.
Hill said that the terrorism list is a "delicate issue" and that being "too explicit about when it might happen is not helpful in terms of Japanese-North Korean relations. We are trying to handle it with sensitivity."
Still, he acknowledged that Pyongyang and Washington have a series of side understandings that amplify and clarify language in the six-party text. He indicated that one of those understandings encourages North Korea to be more forthcoming with the Japanese about the abductions.
"If they want a future in the region, they need to deal with Japan," Hill said.
North Korean negotiator Kim Gye Gwan told reporters in Beijing that "the timing is specified" for exiting the list, but South Korean envoy Chun Yung Woo said there is no clear-cut schedule. He said there are references in the text to events taking place by the end of the year. "It's laid out so that it looks that way to North Korean eyes," he told reporters in Seoul.
A senior Japanese diplomat said that Japan has made clear its concern about a quick removal from the terrorism list, even though U.S. officials believe the abduction issue is not directly relevant to the criteria for inclusion on the list. "They would not sacrifice the U.S.-Japan relationship for the U.S.-North Korea relationship," the Japanese diplomat said.
Hill said North Korea is expected to make an initial declaration about its nuclear programs by the end of this month, though he predicted it would be incomplete. He said the various parties would negotiate over the text, with the aim that North Korea would make full disclosure by the end of the year.
He confirmed that North Korea is expected to reveal the extent of its plutonium production, including efforts in 2003 and 2005 that gave it enough fissile material for as many at 10 weapons. He declined to discuss the North Korean willingness to allow experts to examine the aluminum tubes.
Hill said that North Korea would begin disabling three facilities at Yongbyon -- the nuclear reactor, a fuel fabrication facility and a plutonium reprocessing unit. He said initial steps could be as basic as removing spent fuel rods from the reactor, but that North Korea would later do more to exceed the requirements of the 1994 agreement.
Hill said that when the 1994 deal collapsed, North Korea was able to restart the reactor in two months. "We want something more than two months but less than five years," the time needed to build a new reactor, Hill said. Other diplomats said the steps envisioned in the agreement would amount to a delay of about a year before North Korea could restart its nuclear programs.
"Our understanding is that disablement does not have to be 100 percent irreversible," the Japanese diplomat said.
Showing posts with label nuclear disarmament North Korea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nuclear disarmament North Korea. Show all posts
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
North Korea: Yongbyon reactor shut down
For once the peace process seems to be unfolding without too many hitches. I was always very skeptical of the whole deal and not surprised by the earlier glitches but at present it would seem that both sides are keeping their part of the deal. We will just have to wait and see how much further both sides will be able to go without snarling at each other and accusing each other of bad faith.
N. Korea tells U.S. Yongbyon nuclear reactor now shut down
Last Updated: Saturday, July 14, 2007 | 5:07 PM ET
The Associated Press
North Korea told the United States it shut down its nuclear reactor, the U.S. State Department said Saturday, hours after a ship arrived in the port of Sonbong loaded with oil promised in return for the country's pledge to disarm.
If confirmed by a UN inspection team headed to the Yongbyon reactor, the shutdown would be the North's first step in nearly five years toward de-nuclearization.
This satellite image provided by Space Imaging Asia shows the Yongbyon nuclear centre, located north of Pyongyang, North Korea, in 2002.
(Space Imaging Asia/Associated Press) "We welcome this development and look forward to the verification and monitoring of this shutdown by the International Atomic Energy Agency team," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement.
After tortuous negotiations and delays, during which the North argued its nuclear program was needed for self-defence, the reclusive regime said earlier this month that once it received the oil shipment, it would consider halting its reactor.
The 10-member IAEA team arrived in the North Korean capital Saturday afternoon. Team chief Adel Tolba said the inspectors would stay in North Korea as long as needed to complete their work at the Yongbyon plutonium-producing reactor, located about 95 kilometres northeast of Pyongyang.
"We are going directly to the nuclear site at Yongbyon," Tolba told broadcaster APTN outside the airport.
Continue Article
Footage showed dozens of cardboard boxes being loaded onto the back of two trucks. It was not immediately clear what they contained, but Tolba earlier said he and his colleagues were bringing nearly a tonne of equipment for use during the trip.
North Korea did not give a timetable for the shutdown, but top U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill said earlier it would happen within days.
"I think it's a matter of today, tomorrow, maybe Monday," Hill told reporters Saturday in the Japanese resort town of Hakone, south of Tokyo.
Hill also said he expected the North to submit a list of its nuclear facilities within months, as was agreed upon in a February disarmament deal.
"We expect the comprehensive list in a matter of several weeks, possibly several months," Hill said. However, he warned that the process was not likely to go smoothly.
"I wish I could say we won't have any more problems, but experience tells me otherwise," Hill said.
After the IAEA team installs monitoring equipment, some experts will remain at Yongbyon to ensure the reactor stays shuttered, said a diplomat familiar with North Korea's file at the IAEA.
"The IAEA plans to have a permanent presence there, with some experts remaining at the site continuously," said the diplomat, who requested anonymity due to the issue's sensitivity.
Saturday's delivery of 5,600 tonnes of heavy fuel oil was the first of 45,000 tonnes promised to the North in exchange for shutting down its reactor. Pyongyang will eventually get 907,000 tonnes (one million tons) of
oil and other financial and political concessions in the deal with the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia.
The South Korean tanker No. 9 Han Chang arrived at the North's northeastern port of Sonbong, and the oil was being unloaded, a Unification Ministry official in the South said.
The six-party agreement eased a standoff that began in October 2002, when the U.S. said North Korean officials had admitted having a secret uranium enrichment program. Washington said that violated a 1994 agreement for the North's disarmament, and a month later halted oil shipments under that deal.
The North reacted by expelling IAEA monitors, withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and restarting the reactor.
North Korea has since occasionally shut down the reactor to remove fuel rods and extract plutonium. It is believed to have harvested enough for at least a dozen bombs.
The government set off an underground nuclear test explosion in October, leading to intensified international efforts to negotiate an end to its arms program. The North was likely to term the shutdown simply a suspension of operations, which could be easily reversed.
N. Korea tells U.S. Yongbyon nuclear reactor now shut down
Last Updated: Saturday, July 14, 2007 | 5:07 PM ET
The Associated Press
North Korea told the United States it shut down its nuclear reactor, the U.S. State Department said Saturday, hours after a ship arrived in the port of Sonbong loaded with oil promised in return for the country's pledge to disarm.
If confirmed by a UN inspection team headed to the Yongbyon reactor, the shutdown would be the North's first step in nearly five years toward de-nuclearization.
This satellite image provided by Space Imaging Asia shows the Yongbyon nuclear centre, located north of Pyongyang, North Korea, in 2002.
(Space Imaging Asia/Associated Press) "We welcome this development and look forward to the verification and monitoring of this shutdown by the International Atomic Energy Agency team," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement.
After tortuous negotiations and delays, during which the North argued its nuclear program was needed for self-defence, the reclusive regime said earlier this month that once it received the oil shipment, it would consider halting its reactor.
The 10-member IAEA team arrived in the North Korean capital Saturday afternoon. Team chief Adel Tolba said the inspectors would stay in North Korea as long as needed to complete their work at the Yongbyon plutonium-producing reactor, located about 95 kilometres northeast of Pyongyang.
"We are going directly to the nuclear site at Yongbyon," Tolba told broadcaster APTN outside the airport.
Continue Article
Footage showed dozens of cardboard boxes being loaded onto the back of two trucks. It was not immediately clear what they contained, but Tolba earlier said he and his colleagues were bringing nearly a tonne of equipment for use during the trip.
North Korea did not give a timetable for the shutdown, but top U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill said earlier it would happen within days.
"I think it's a matter of today, tomorrow, maybe Monday," Hill told reporters Saturday in the Japanese resort town of Hakone, south of Tokyo.
Hill also said he expected the North to submit a list of its nuclear facilities within months, as was agreed upon in a February disarmament deal.
"We expect the comprehensive list in a matter of several weeks, possibly several months," Hill said. However, he warned that the process was not likely to go smoothly.
"I wish I could say we won't have any more problems, but experience tells me otherwise," Hill said.
After the IAEA team installs monitoring equipment, some experts will remain at Yongbyon to ensure the reactor stays shuttered, said a diplomat familiar with North Korea's file at the IAEA.
"The IAEA plans to have a permanent presence there, with some experts remaining at the site continuously," said the diplomat, who requested anonymity due to the issue's sensitivity.
Saturday's delivery of 5,600 tonnes of heavy fuel oil was the first of 45,000 tonnes promised to the North in exchange for shutting down its reactor. Pyongyang will eventually get 907,000 tonnes (one million tons) of
oil and other financial and political concessions in the deal with the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia.
The South Korean tanker No. 9 Han Chang arrived at the North's northeastern port of Sonbong, and the oil was being unloaded, a Unification Ministry official in the South said.
The six-party agreement eased a standoff that began in October 2002, when the U.S. said North Korean officials had admitted having a secret uranium enrichment program. Washington said that violated a 1994 agreement for the North's disarmament, and a month later halted oil shipments under that deal.
The North reacted by expelling IAEA monitors, withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and restarting the reactor.
North Korea has since occasionally shut down the reactor to remove fuel rods and extract plutonium. It is believed to have harvested enough for at least a dozen bombs.
The government set off an underground nuclear test explosion in October, leading to intensified international efforts to negotiate an end to its arms program. The North was likely to term the shutdown simply a suspension of operations, which could be easily reversed.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
North Korean Funds unfrozen
This issue was supposedly solved weeks if not months ago. I was skeptical then and am still skeptical now about this issue and other outstanding issues. Neither the US or North Korea are trustworthy and neither trust each other so it makes the nuclear agreement quite iffy. The information we get is often sketchy and sometimes premature as with this bank deal.
N. Korean funds unfrozen, paving way for nuclear deal
Last Updated: Thursday, June 14, 2007 | 10:42 AM ET
The Associated Press
More than $20 million in disputed North Korean funds was transferred from a blacklisted Macau bank Thursday, an official said, signalling a breakthrough in a dispute that has held up the North's pledge to shut down its nuclear reactor.
It was not immediately clear where the money was sent.
North Korea has refused to move forward on a February pledge to start dismantling its nuclear program until it receives the money that had been frozen by Banco Delta Asia, which was blacklisted by the United States.
Washington had accused the bank of complicity in money laundering by the Pyongyang regime, but gave its blessing for the funds to be freed to win progress on the nuclear issue.
But North Korea had not withdrawn the funds, apparently seeking to prove the money was now clean by receiving it through an electronic bank transfer. Other banks have apparently been reluctant to touch the disputed money.
"Banco Delta Asia transferred more than $20 million out of the bank this afternoon in accordance with the client's instruction," Francis Tam, Macau's secretary of economy and finance, told reporters on the sidelines of a business gathering.
Russian offer to resolve deadlock
But Tam would not say where the money was sent.
"We have heard reports in foreign media that the money can be wired via the U.S. or Russia, for example. I think these routings are possible," Tam added.
North Korea had $25 million in the bank, and Tam would not say how much of the money was transferred. But he said, "Most of the money in this account has already transferred out. There will probably not be another transfer."
If some of the money remains in the bank, it could become a new reason for the recalcitrant and unpredictable North to delay progress with the pledge to shut down its nuclear weapons program.
Optimism had grown this week that the banking dispute could end after Russia offered to help resolve it. It was not immediately clear Thursday what role, if any, Russia had played.
In the landmark Feb. 13 agreement, North Korea agreed to shut down its main nuclear reactor in return for food aid and other concessions. The other countries participating in the six-party talks were the U.S., South Korea, Russia, China and Japan.
N. Korean funds unfrozen, paving way for nuclear deal
Last Updated: Thursday, June 14, 2007 | 10:42 AM ET
The Associated Press
More than $20 million in disputed North Korean funds was transferred from a blacklisted Macau bank Thursday, an official said, signalling a breakthrough in a dispute that has held up the North's pledge to shut down its nuclear reactor.
It was not immediately clear where the money was sent.
North Korea has refused to move forward on a February pledge to start dismantling its nuclear program until it receives the money that had been frozen by Banco Delta Asia, which was blacklisted by the United States.
Washington had accused the bank of complicity in money laundering by the Pyongyang regime, but gave its blessing for the funds to be freed to win progress on the nuclear issue.
But North Korea had not withdrawn the funds, apparently seeking to prove the money was now clean by receiving it through an electronic bank transfer. Other banks have apparently been reluctant to touch the disputed money.
"Banco Delta Asia transferred more than $20 million out of the bank this afternoon in accordance with the client's instruction," Francis Tam, Macau's secretary of economy and finance, told reporters on the sidelines of a business gathering.
Russian offer to resolve deadlock
But Tam would not say where the money was sent.
"We have heard reports in foreign media that the money can be wired via the U.S. or Russia, for example. I think these routings are possible," Tam added.
North Korea had $25 million in the bank, and Tam would not say how much of the money was transferred. But he said, "Most of the money in this account has already transferred out. There will probably not be another transfer."
If some of the money remains in the bank, it could become a new reason for the recalcitrant and unpredictable North to delay progress with the pledge to shut down its nuclear weapons program.
Optimism had grown this week that the banking dispute could end after Russia offered to help resolve it. It was not immediately clear Thursday what role, if any, Russia had played.
In the landmark Feb. 13 agreement, North Korea agreed to shut down its main nuclear reactor in return for food aid and other concessions. The other countries participating in the six-party talks were the U.S., South Korea, Russia, China and Japan.
Friday, April 13, 2007
China suggest North Korean funds issue not resolved
I have been skeptical of this all along. Many times now the issue is announced as resolved by the US but not by North Korea. I also wonder if fuel oil is also being delivered as per the agreement.
China suggests N.Korea funds issue not resolved
Thu Apr 12, 2007 6:06am ET
SEOUL (Reuters) - China suggested on Thursday the release of North Korean funds blocked in a Macau bank, the trigger for Pyongyang to start shutting a nuclear reactor, was still not quite resolved, but the United States said it was.
Washington said Macau authorities had unblocked about $25 million of North Korean funds at Banco Delta Asia (BDA) frozen for about 18 months and Pyongyang could now pick up the money.
But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular news conference in Beijing: "We hope the issue of the bank funds can be properly resolved as soon as possible."
He added: "The legitimate and reasonable concerns and interests of all parties should be addressed so we can find a way to properly resolve the issue as soon as possible." This was a reference to concerns in China about how to handle the funds from the BDA which Washington accuses of money laundering.
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North Korea insists the money be returned before it starts shutting down the Yongbyon atomic reactor, which supplies it with weapons-grade plutonium, as part of an international deal for its nuclear disarmament.
"Their money is available, so this is no longer about BDA in my opinion. This is about their undertakings with respect to denuclearization. BDA is over," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters in Seoul, where he met officials.
South Korea's chief envoy to six-country talks on ending the North's nuclear ambitions said it could take a few days to resolve the hold-up over the funds.
"It's time for North Korea to move and until North Korea moves, there is nothing we can do," Chun Yung-woo said after a meeting with Hill.
That means North Korea is likely to miss a Saturday deadline to start shutting down the reactor under the February 13 deal reached with China, the United States, South Korea, Japan and Russia.
North Korea told a U.S. delegation led by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson to Pyongyang this week that it could start the shut-down process within a day of receiving its money by inviting back International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors for the first since 2002.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
China suggests N.Korea funds issue not resolved
Thu Apr 12, 2007 6:06am ET
SEOUL (Reuters) - China suggested on Thursday the release of North Korean funds blocked in a Macau bank, the trigger for Pyongyang to start shutting a nuclear reactor, was still not quite resolved, but the United States said it was.
Washington said Macau authorities had unblocked about $25 million of North Korean funds at Banco Delta Asia (BDA) frozen for about 18 months and Pyongyang could now pick up the money.
But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular news conference in Beijing: "We hope the issue of the bank funds can be properly resolved as soon as possible."
He added: "The legitimate and reasonable concerns and interests of all parties should be addressed so we can find a way to properly resolve the issue as soon as possible." This was a reference to concerns in China about how to handle the funds from the BDA which Washington accuses of money laundering.
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North Korea insists the money be returned before it starts shutting down the Yongbyon atomic reactor, which supplies it with weapons-grade plutonium, as part of an international deal for its nuclear disarmament.
"Their money is available, so this is no longer about BDA in my opinion. This is about their undertakings with respect to denuclearization. BDA is over," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters in Seoul, where he met officials.
South Korea's chief envoy to six-country talks on ending the North's nuclear ambitions said it could take a few days to resolve the hold-up over the funds.
"It's time for North Korea to move and until North Korea moves, there is nothing we can do," Chun Yung-woo said after a meeting with Hill.
That means North Korea is likely to miss a Saturday deadline to start shutting down the reactor under the February 13 deal reached with China, the United States, South Korea, Japan and Russia.
North Korea told a U.S. delegation led by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson to Pyongyang this week that it could start the shut-down process within a day of receiving its money by inviting back International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors for the first since 2002.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
North Korea funds released?
This is according to the US state department. Why does not the bank concerned release this information. At least everyone is keeping their cool. It seems that the delivery of a shipment of fuel oil is also a condition of the shutting down of the reactor and that does not seem to have happened either or is not mentioned as happening. I remain a skeptic on the whole deal.
Bank releases North Korea funds
A six-party agreement was reached four months after North Korea tested a nuclear device [Reuters]
Authorities in Macau have unfrozen North Korean bank accounts, according to the US state department, paving the way for the communist state to start shutting down its nuclear facilities.
Sean McCormack, a state department spokesman, said on Tuesday that the Macau monetary authorities had agreed to open the accounts to their owners.
"The bottom line is they have unblocked these accounts and authorised account holders to withdraw the funds from those accounts," he said, citing remarks by a spokeswoman for the Monetary Authority of Macau.
McCormack said North Korea was now expected to follow through with its pledge to shut down and seal its reactor.
The funds, which North Korea has promised to use for "humanitarian purposes", had been a sticking point in talks aimed at curtailing North Korea's nuclear programme.
North Korea had refused to implement an agreement, reached four months after North Korea tested a nuclear device, to shut its Yongbyon nuclear reactor in return for fuel and other aid until it received the $25m in funds.
Washington lifted its objections to releasing the funds last month, but the money remained blocked due to what US and Chinese officials called "technical complications". Consequently, the US missed a 30-day deadline set by North Korea to have the funds released.
The money was frozen in the Banco Delta Asia (BDA) in Macau, after Washington blacklisted the bank for allegedly helping North Korea to launder money.
The bank has denied any wrongdoing.
If North Korea follows through with its promises, it would be the first moves Pyongyang has made to scale back its nuclear development since 2003, when it kicked out international inspectors and restarted its sole operating nuclear reactor.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog, is to monitor and verify the reactor's shutdown, in what would be the organisation's first visit to North Korea since late 2002.
Technical difficulties
In the first phase of the six-country agreement - reached in talks between North and South Korea, Japan, Russia, China and the US - North Korea is expected to shut down its reactor by Saturday, in exchange for a shipment of fuel oil.
McCormack said that with only four days remaining to the deadline, there could be technical difficulties in shutting down the reactor, indicating that Washington would allow some flexibility in dealing with the 60-day deadline agreed in February.
"You're bumping up against the technical ability to do that [shut down the reactor] safely," he said. "We'll see where we are at on Saturday."
Bank releases North Korea funds
A six-party agreement was reached four months after North Korea tested a nuclear device [Reuters]
Authorities in Macau have unfrozen North Korean bank accounts, according to the US state department, paving the way for the communist state to start shutting down its nuclear facilities.
Sean McCormack, a state department spokesman, said on Tuesday that the Macau monetary authorities had agreed to open the accounts to their owners.
"The bottom line is they have unblocked these accounts and authorised account holders to withdraw the funds from those accounts," he said, citing remarks by a spokeswoman for the Monetary Authority of Macau.
McCormack said North Korea was now expected to follow through with its pledge to shut down and seal its reactor.
The funds, which North Korea has promised to use for "humanitarian purposes", had been a sticking point in talks aimed at curtailing North Korea's nuclear programme.
North Korea had refused to implement an agreement, reached four months after North Korea tested a nuclear device, to shut its Yongbyon nuclear reactor in return for fuel and other aid until it received the $25m in funds.
Washington lifted its objections to releasing the funds last month, but the money remained blocked due to what US and Chinese officials called "technical complications". Consequently, the US missed a 30-day deadline set by North Korea to have the funds released.
The money was frozen in the Banco Delta Asia (BDA) in Macau, after Washington blacklisted the bank for allegedly helping North Korea to launder money.
The bank has denied any wrongdoing.
If North Korea follows through with its promises, it would be the first moves Pyongyang has made to scale back its nuclear development since 2003, when it kicked out international inspectors and restarted its sole operating nuclear reactor.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog, is to monitor and verify the reactor's shutdown, in what would be the organisation's first visit to North Korea since late 2002.
Technical difficulties
In the first phase of the six-country agreement - reached in talks between North and South Korea, Japan, Russia, China and the US - North Korea is expected to shut down its reactor by Saturday, in exchange for a shipment of fuel oil.
McCormack said that with only four days remaining to the deadline, there could be technical difficulties in shutting down the reactor, indicating that Washington would allow some flexibility in dealing with the 60-day deadline agreed in February.
"You're bumping up against the technical ability to do that [shut down the reactor] safely," he said. "We'll see where we are at on Saturday."
Release of North Korean money delayed
It seems as if history repeats itself. Notice that it is the US that still has not been able to release the money. I just wonder if there are not even more requirements that the North Koreans have that are not being met. The US is apparently only releasing part of the money, money that is not "dirty" in their opinion. The US still refuses to allow US financial institutions to deal with the banks. The exact problems are not set out in the article.
Difficult to Meet NK Deadline: US Envoy
By Lee Jin-woo
Staff Reporter
Christopher Hill, left, U.S. envoy to the six-party talks, and his Japanese counterpart Kenichiro Sasae are surrounded by the media after their talks at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo, Monday. /Yonhap
The United States has put more pressure on North Korea to cooperate in resolving a complicated banking issue, which has been a stumbling block to implementing a denuclearization accord reached in the six-party talks in February.
But Washington remained positive about the eventual implementation of the Feb. 13 agreement.
``We are working hard to do everything we can,¡¯¡¯ State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told a daily press briefing on Monday. ``And we encourage North Korea do so as well.¡¯¡¯
With only four days to go before the Saturday deadline, members of the nuclear disarmament talks, involving South and North Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan, have been struggling with releasing $25 million that had been frozen at Banco Delta Asia (BDA), a bank in Macau, under U.S. sanctions.
The money transfer has been delayed by complicated regulations and restrictions. A U.S. Treasury delegation sent out to Beijing to help work out the issues returned home last week.
The 60-day deadline for the first stage of nuclear disarmament process was set out in the Feb. 13 accord signed in the Chinese capital by the six nations.
``We would hope that all the parties that are involved in the talks understand that this is based on good faith actions,¡¯¡¯ the spokesman said.
Christopher Hill, top U.S. envoy to the six-party talks, arrived in Seoul Tuesday as part of his tour of three Asian nations, including China and Japan, to seek ways to resolve the banking issue.
Hill acknowledged it would be difficult to meet the deadline but downplayed its significance, saying the two sides were still headed in the right direction.
``Obviously every day this banking matter holds us up, and it makes it more difficult to meet the precise deadline,¡¯¡¯ Hill was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Tokyo before leaving for Seoul.
The chief U.S. nuclear negotiator will meet with his South Korean counterpart Chun Yung-woo during his stay in Seoul before leaving for Beijing on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Today, Hill is also expected to meet with Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico, who led a U.S. delegation to Pyongyang to secure the remains of U.S. soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War.
Richardson, a Democratic presidential candidate, will cross the inter-Korean border today. He has said the North assured him that it would turn over the remains of six U.S. soldiers.
The North¡¯s top nuclear envoy Kim Kye-gwan told the U.S. delegation on Monday that his country would invite international monitors to verify the shutdown of its primary nuclear facilities the moment the frozen funds are released.
things@koreatimes.co.kr
Difficult to Meet NK Deadline: US Envoy
By Lee Jin-woo
Staff Reporter
Christopher Hill, left, U.S. envoy to the six-party talks, and his Japanese counterpart Kenichiro Sasae are surrounded by the media after their talks at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo, Monday. /Yonhap
The United States has put more pressure on North Korea to cooperate in resolving a complicated banking issue, which has been a stumbling block to implementing a denuclearization accord reached in the six-party talks in February.
But Washington remained positive about the eventual implementation of the Feb. 13 agreement.
``We are working hard to do everything we can,¡¯¡¯ State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told a daily press briefing on Monday. ``And we encourage North Korea do so as well.¡¯¡¯
With only four days to go before the Saturday deadline, members of the nuclear disarmament talks, involving South and North Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan, have been struggling with releasing $25 million that had been frozen at Banco Delta Asia (BDA), a bank in Macau, under U.S. sanctions.
The money transfer has been delayed by complicated regulations and restrictions. A U.S. Treasury delegation sent out to Beijing to help work out the issues returned home last week.
The 60-day deadline for the first stage of nuclear disarmament process was set out in the Feb. 13 accord signed in the Chinese capital by the six nations.
``We would hope that all the parties that are involved in the talks understand that this is based on good faith actions,¡¯¡¯ the spokesman said.
Christopher Hill, top U.S. envoy to the six-party talks, arrived in Seoul Tuesday as part of his tour of three Asian nations, including China and Japan, to seek ways to resolve the banking issue.
Hill acknowledged it would be difficult to meet the deadline but downplayed its significance, saying the two sides were still headed in the right direction.
``Obviously every day this banking matter holds us up, and it makes it more difficult to meet the precise deadline,¡¯¡¯ Hill was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Tokyo before leaving for Seoul.
The chief U.S. nuclear negotiator will meet with his South Korean counterpart Chun Yung-woo during his stay in Seoul before leaving for Beijing on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Today, Hill is also expected to meet with Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico, who led a U.S. delegation to Pyongyang to secure the remains of U.S. soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War.
Richardson, a Democratic presidential candidate, will cross the inter-Korean border today. He has said the North assured him that it would turn over the remains of six U.S. soldiers.
The North¡¯s top nuclear envoy Kim Kye-gwan told the U.S. delegation on Monday that his country would invite international monitors to verify the shutdown of its primary nuclear facilities the moment the frozen funds are released.
things@koreatimes.co.kr
Thursday, March 22, 2007
North Korea talks break down again!
Just as other press releases inform us the bank issue is solved this happens. I am not surprised at all. In fact in an earlier post I had predicted that US actions on the bank might very well cause problems. This article is not very useful in that it does not give details or even try to find out North Korea's reasons. However, the US decided to ban all US banks from dealing with the Macau bank and accuses it of money laundering etc. The money released is probably only a partial release of what the US might term "clean" money but this is hardly what North Korea expected. At the time of the US decision it was clear that China for one was very displeased with the US action. It knew what might happen. Of course things could very well be patched up so we will just have to watch but given the Bush administration's penchant to demonise North Korea and opposition to the deal among some in the administration things could fall apart completely. However, maybe the Bush administration has enough problems on its plate so that it will keep this issue on the back burner.
N. Korea departs nuclear talks after Macau bank row
Last Updated: Thursday, March 22, 2007 | 5:59 AM ET
CBC News
North Korea's chief nuclear envoy flew home from Beijing Thursday after disarmament talks broke down.
Kim Kye Gwan refused to participate in the six-party talks that had dragged on this week with little success, apparently dissatisfied with a deal to transfer about $25 million of North Korean funds frozen in a Macau bank.
North Korea has refused to take part in the talks aimed at pushing forward a Feb.13 agreement to dismantle its nuclear facilities before the issue of the Macau funds is resolved. The U.S. said on Monday that the North Korean money would be transferred from the Macau bank to a bank in China following money-laundering investigations.
The transfer did not happen quickly enough for Kim, who departed without discussing the next steps in disarmament, leaving the remaining five nations frustrated with the lack of progress.
Kim waved to reporters when he arrived at the Beijing airport but did not comment.
Under the February disarmament deal, Pyongyang agreed to start shutting down its nuclear facilities in exchange for energy aid.
The six-party negotiations between North Korea, South Korea, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia began Monday in Beijing and were to end on Wednesday. But the talks dragged on until Thursday at the insistence of North Korea to discuss the issue of the money held in Macau.
With files from the Associated Press
N. Korea departs nuclear talks after Macau bank row
Last Updated: Thursday, March 22, 2007 | 5:59 AM ET
CBC News
North Korea's chief nuclear envoy flew home from Beijing Thursday after disarmament talks broke down.
Kim Kye Gwan refused to participate in the six-party talks that had dragged on this week with little success, apparently dissatisfied with a deal to transfer about $25 million of North Korean funds frozen in a Macau bank.
North Korea has refused to take part in the talks aimed at pushing forward a Feb.13 agreement to dismantle its nuclear facilities before the issue of the Macau funds is resolved. The U.S. said on Monday that the North Korean money would be transferred from the Macau bank to a bank in China following money-laundering investigations.
The transfer did not happen quickly enough for Kim, who departed without discussing the next steps in disarmament, leaving the remaining five nations frustrated with the lack of progress.
Kim waved to reporters when he arrived at the Beijing airport but did not comment.
Under the February disarmament deal, Pyongyang agreed to start shutting down its nuclear facilities in exchange for energy aid.
The six-party negotiations between North Korea, South Korea, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia began Monday in Beijing and were to end on Wednesday. But the talks dragged on until Thursday at the insistence of North Korea to discuss the issue of the money held in Macau.
With files from the Associated Press
Friday, March 16, 2007
US official says Macau bank issue resolved.
THe North Koreans demanded that the US lift sanctions on the Macau bank. They did not do that. Quite the opposite they re-imposed a ban on US banks dealing with the bank. The Chinese were not impressed. The North Koreans have kept their cool so far. The spin put on this by the US is ludicrous and headlines dutifully repeat it. Macau bank issue supposely resolved when the exact opposite is the result of the US policy.
Dispute over N. Korean money in Macau bank resolved: U.S. nuclear envoy
Last Updated: Friday, March 16, 2007 | 5:45 AM ET
The Associated Press
The top U.S. nuclear envoy insisted Friday that a dispute over North Korean funds held in a Macau bank has been resolved, potentially removing a key stumbling block that has bedevilled progress on dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.
Meanwhile, the UN top nuclear inspector told envoys to international arms talks that Pyongyang reassured him of its commitment to following the February agreement that laid down initial steps for disarmament including co-operation with International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, Japanese officials said in Beijing.
However, IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei, who visited Pyongyang earlier this week, said the North had stressed that the other countries at the arms talks also needed to honour their commitments — repeating demands for the lifting of sanctions on the Macau bank, a Japanese delegation member said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
North Korea has yet to react publicly to the U.S. decision Wednesday to ban American financial institutions from dealings with Macau's Banco Delta Asia for its complicity in North Korean money laundering.
The bank had been blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury Department since September 2005, leading to a freeze of $25 million US in North Korean accounts.
The North boycotted nuclear talks for more than a year over the bank issue, during which it conducted its first nuclear test in October. But North Korea agreed to move toward disarmament after the U.S. promised to resolve the bank issue.
No question bank issue resolved: Hill
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said Friday there was no question that the issue had been solved.
"I think they want assurances that the Banco Delta Asia issues are resolved and we can give them those assurances that it is resolved," Hill told reporters.
His remarks came a day after China expressed "deep regret" over the U.S. decision.
A senior U.S. Treasury Department official, Daniel Glaser, is to travel to Macau to share the report's findings with officials there on Saturday. That could lead to the Macau government releasing some of the funds deemed to have resulted from legitimate business.
Banco Delta Asia, however, said it would appeal the ruling. It also denied that it "knew or suspected" that its North Korean customers were engaged in money laundering, said Stanley Au, chairman of Delta Asia Group (Holdings) Ltd. The bank is a unit of the group.
Under the landmark Feb. 13 disarmament agreement involving North Korea, the United States and other regional powers, Pyongyang has pledged to shut down its main nuclear reactor and processing facility and allow UN inspectors for verification by April 14.
In return, North Korea would receive energy and economic assistance and a start toward normalizing relations with the U.S. and Japan.
North Korea is eventually to receive assistance worth 907,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil if it fully discloses and dismantles all nuclear programs.
Working groups to implement the pact are meeting in Beijing this week ahead of a full session of the six-nation talks Monday.
Dispute over N. Korean money in Macau bank resolved: U.S. nuclear envoy
Last Updated: Friday, March 16, 2007 | 5:45 AM ET
The Associated Press
The top U.S. nuclear envoy insisted Friday that a dispute over North Korean funds held in a Macau bank has been resolved, potentially removing a key stumbling block that has bedevilled progress on dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.
Meanwhile, the UN top nuclear inspector told envoys to international arms talks that Pyongyang reassured him of its commitment to following the February agreement that laid down initial steps for disarmament including co-operation with International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, Japanese officials said in Beijing.
However, IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei, who visited Pyongyang earlier this week, said the North had stressed that the other countries at the arms talks also needed to honour their commitments — repeating demands for the lifting of sanctions on the Macau bank, a Japanese delegation member said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
North Korea has yet to react publicly to the U.S. decision Wednesday to ban American financial institutions from dealings with Macau's Banco Delta Asia for its complicity in North Korean money laundering.
The bank had been blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury Department since September 2005, leading to a freeze of $25 million US in North Korean accounts.
The North boycotted nuclear talks for more than a year over the bank issue, during which it conducted its first nuclear test in October. But North Korea agreed to move toward disarmament after the U.S. promised to resolve the bank issue.
No question bank issue resolved: Hill
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said Friday there was no question that the issue had been solved.
"I think they want assurances that the Banco Delta Asia issues are resolved and we can give them those assurances that it is resolved," Hill told reporters.
His remarks came a day after China expressed "deep regret" over the U.S. decision.
A senior U.S. Treasury Department official, Daniel Glaser, is to travel to Macau to share the report's findings with officials there on Saturday. That could lead to the Macau government releasing some of the funds deemed to have resulted from legitimate business.
Banco Delta Asia, however, said it would appeal the ruling. It also denied that it "knew or suspected" that its North Korean customers were engaged in money laundering, said Stanley Au, chairman of Delta Asia Group (Holdings) Ltd. The bank is a unit of the group.
Under the landmark Feb. 13 disarmament agreement involving North Korea, the United States and other regional powers, Pyongyang has pledged to shut down its main nuclear reactor and processing facility and allow UN inspectors for verification by April 14.
In return, North Korea would receive energy and economic assistance and a start toward normalizing relations with the U.S. and Japan.
North Korea is eventually to receive assistance worth 907,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil if it fully discloses and dismantles all nuclear programs.
Working groups to implement the pact are meeting in Beijing this week ahead of a full session of the six-nation talks Monday.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
How to make agreements come unstuck!
While the Banco Delta Asia may unfreeze some North Korean assets US banks are banned from dealing with the bank. This will no doubt severely hurt its banking activity. The reaction of the Chinese clearly shows that this will cause difficulties for upcoming talks. I suppose people will express surprise if there are new problems when the talks begin again.
Rift opens over U.S. bank move ahead of nuclear talks
Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:54 AM EST
By Chris Buckley
BEIJING (Reuters) - A rift opened between the United States and China on Thursday on how to end a dispute about North Korean bank accounts, with China angry over a U.S. decision it said might harm talks to end Pyongyang's nuclear threat.
U.S. envoy Christopher Hill said the decision on North Korean accounts frozen in Macau's Banco Delta Asia (BDA) would help advance a deal obliging Pyongyang to close the reactor at the heart of its nuclear weapons program.
"I think we have fulfilled what we need to do," Hill told reporters of the bank decision. "I think we will get ourselves into a situation where BDA will not pose a stumbling block to the six-party process."
Those talks, which group the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, struck an accord on February 13 giving North Korea 60 days to shut its Yongbyon reactor in return for energy aid and security pledges. The United States then also promised to defuse within 30 days North Korea's complaints about the bank crackdown.
Pyongyang had no immediate comment on the bank move in which the U.S. Treasury Department barred U.S. banks from dealing with Banco Delta Asia.
The Treasury's announcement signaled an end to its 18-month investigation in Banco Delta Asia, which the United States says was a "willing pawn" in illicit North Korean financial dealings.
The U.S. move will allow the Chinese-controlled gambling enclave of Macau to decide whether to release an estimated $8 million to $12 million in frozen accounts.
But China, which worked closely with Hill in the disarmament talks, abruptly criticized the U.S. decision, raising the risk the dispute has not been laid to rest ahead of fresh disarmament talks scheduled in Beijing next week.
"We express our regret at the United States insisting on using U.S. domestic law to apply a ruling," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a news conference.
The spokesman, grim-faced and notably downcast, said that China wanted any decision on the North Korean accounts to help protect Macau's financial and social stability and to help the six-party talks, which were stalled for more than a year over North Korea's anger at the bank squeeze.
REGRET
"The reason China has expressed its regret because we have those two concerns and these should be fully taken into account," Qin said.
When pressed to elaborate on China's worries, Qin simply repeated the two concerns.
The Macau monetary authority also expressed "regret" over the U.S. decision, and said it would take steps necessary to maintain Macau's financial stability.
The bank move was the latest in a burst of diplomacy ahead of the talks on Monday aimed at implementing the first phase of the disarmament plan before a 60-day deadline.
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei was in Beijing on Thursday after visiting North Korea to negotiate the return of IAEA nuclear inspectors to the country.
ElBaradei said North Korea would be ready to re-admit its inspectors for the first time since the North kicked them out in late 2002, but that Pyongyang had made settling the dispute over what Washington has called illicit banking a condition for moving forward with denuclearization.
In September 2005, Washington labeled BDA a "primary money-laundering concern" that helped funnel Pyongyang's takings from counterfeiting U.S. money, drug trafficking and other misdeeds.
Chinese spokesman Qin did not directly answer questions about whether his country would raise the bank issue in the six-party talks and what Beijing hopes Pyongyang's response will be.
"We will express our concerns to the United States through suitable channels," he said. "I can't speak for North Korea."
Pyongyang stunned the world last October with its first nuclear test, drawing widespread condemnation and U.N. sanctions.
An Australian diplomat who visited the reclusive country this week said on Thursday the North Koreans had assured him they were committed to seeing through the February 13 deal.
(Additional reporting by Lindsay Beck in Beijing and Chisa Fujioka in Tokyo)
Rift opens over U.S. bank move ahead of nuclear talks
Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:54 AM EST
By Chris Buckley
BEIJING (Reuters) - A rift opened between the United States and China on Thursday on how to end a dispute about North Korean bank accounts, with China angry over a U.S. decision it said might harm talks to end Pyongyang's nuclear threat.
U.S. envoy Christopher Hill said the decision on North Korean accounts frozen in Macau's Banco Delta Asia (BDA) would help advance a deal obliging Pyongyang to close the reactor at the heart of its nuclear weapons program.
"I think we have fulfilled what we need to do," Hill told reporters of the bank decision. "I think we will get ourselves into a situation where BDA will not pose a stumbling block to the six-party process."
Those talks, which group the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, struck an accord on February 13 giving North Korea 60 days to shut its Yongbyon reactor in return for energy aid and security pledges. The United States then also promised to defuse within 30 days North Korea's complaints about the bank crackdown.
Pyongyang had no immediate comment on the bank move in which the U.S. Treasury Department barred U.S. banks from dealing with Banco Delta Asia.
The Treasury's announcement signaled an end to its 18-month investigation in Banco Delta Asia, which the United States says was a "willing pawn" in illicit North Korean financial dealings.
The U.S. move will allow the Chinese-controlled gambling enclave of Macau to decide whether to release an estimated $8 million to $12 million in frozen accounts.
But China, which worked closely with Hill in the disarmament talks, abruptly criticized the U.S. decision, raising the risk the dispute has not been laid to rest ahead of fresh disarmament talks scheduled in Beijing next week.
"We express our regret at the United States insisting on using U.S. domestic law to apply a ruling," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a news conference.
The spokesman, grim-faced and notably downcast, said that China wanted any decision on the North Korean accounts to help protect Macau's financial and social stability and to help the six-party talks, which were stalled for more than a year over North Korea's anger at the bank squeeze.
REGRET
"The reason China has expressed its regret because we have those two concerns and these should be fully taken into account," Qin said.
When pressed to elaborate on China's worries, Qin simply repeated the two concerns.
The Macau monetary authority also expressed "regret" over the U.S. decision, and said it would take steps necessary to maintain Macau's financial stability.
The bank move was the latest in a burst of diplomacy ahead of the talks on Monday aimed at implementing the first phase of the disarmament plan before a 60-day deadline.
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei was in Beijing on Thursday after visiting North Korea to negotiate the return of IAEA nuclear inspectors to the country.
ElBaradei said North Korea would be ready to re-admit its inspectors for the first time since the North kicked them out in late 2002, but that Pyongyang had made settling the dispute over what Washington has called illicit banking a condition for moving forward with denuclearization.
In September 2005, Washington labeled BDA a "primary money-laundering concern" that helped funnel Pyongyang's takings from counterfeiting U.S. money, drug trafficking and other misdeeds.
Chinese spokesman Qin did not directly answer questions about whether his country would raise the bank issue in the six-party talks and what Beijing hopes Pyongyang's response will be.
"We will express our concerns to the United States through suitable channels," he said. "I can't speak for North Korea."
Pyongyang stunned the world last October with its first nuclear test, drawing widespread condemnation and U.N. sanctions.
An Australian diplomat who visited the reclusive country this week said on Thursday the North Koreans had assured him they were committed to seeing through the February 13 deal.
(Additional reporting by Lindsay Beck in Beijing and Chisa Fujioka in Tokyo)
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Some progress in North Korea nuclear standoff
If the US does not lift sanctions tben the deal will be off. Given the level of distrust between the two countries it would not be surprising to find the agreement unravel once again. While all this is going on the UK decides to upgrade its Trident Missile program with not even a little squeak from the US or anyone else except rebels in the Labor Party. What a tremendous waste of money.
Wednesday » March 14 » 2007
U.N. chief inspector says North Korea committed to getting rid of nuclear program
Alexa Olesen
Canadian Press
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
CREDIT:
The chief U.N. nuclear negotiator Mohamed ElBaradei arrives at a press conference in Beijing. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Dalziel)
BEIJING (AP) - North Korea is committed to shuttering its main nuclear reactor within a month as long as Washington meets its promise to drop financial sanctions, the chief U.N. nuclear inspector said Wednesday after a one-day trip to Pyongyang.
In the first trip by the International Atomic Energy Agency since its inspectors were kicked out four years ago, agency head Mohamed ElBaradei said North Korea discussed how it would shut its main reactor and welcome back UN inspectors.
The assessment was an encouraging sign that a month-old nuclear disarmament pact between North Korea, the United States and four other countries remains on track, if, as ElBaradei said, "fragile."
He said North Korean officials told him they were "fully committed" to implementing the deal and that they were "ready to work with the agency to make sure that we monitor and verify the shutdown of the Yongbyon" nuclear reactor.
The reactor is believed to have produced the plutonium for the nuclear weapon North Korea detonated in a test blast on Oct. 9.
Yet the next month will be crucial, with the agreement laying down timetables for North Korea's disarmament and rewards for doing so. Already there were signs of rough going.
"The agreement is still quite fragile, precarious, so I hope all parties will see to it we continue to solidify that agreement," he said.
North Korean officials told ElBaradei they were waiting for the United States to drop financial sanctions against it, he said.
The frozen accounts in the Banco Delta Asia, including US$24 million (euro18.2 million) in North Korean assets, have been a sore spot for the North Korean government.
A U.S. government official said Monday the Treasury Department is expected to make an announcement this week that could help overseas regulators identify highest-risk and lower-risk account holders. This risk assessment in turn could be used by Macau to release money that has been frozen. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
"Until we see what the U.S. is doing on the banking sanctions and how North Korea reacts to that we really must be very cautious about whether they will shutdown the reactor," said Selig Harrison, director of the Asia program at the Washington-based Center for International Policy.
"This is the most serious threat to the Feb. 13 agreement," he said. "The whole thing could bog down on that issue very easily."
Harrison that if the United States decides on a partial lifting of sanctions against the North, Pyongyang would likely respond in kind with a partial implementation of their commitments.
The U.S. alleged the bank helped North Korea distribute counterfeit currency and engage in other illicit activities. Banks around the world, meanwhile, severed ties with North Korea for fear of losing access to the U.S. financial system.
ElBaradei said he was told that North Korea was committed to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula but that getting it back into the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty - it withdrew in January 2003 - would be a slow, incremental process.
"All we can do now is make sure the process does not derail," he said.
ElBaradei was originally meant to meet with the North's chief nuclear negotiator Kim Gye Kwan but the schedule was changed at the last minute but ElBaradei dismissed concerns that he had been snubbed.
Kim "was sick, he fell ill after coming back from New York," ElBaradei said. "It is not true that he was too busy."
He met instead with another vice foreign minister of the same rank, Kim Hyong Jun, as well as Ri Je Son, head of the North's General Bureau of Atomic Energy and Kim Yong Dai, vice president of the Supreme People's Assembly.
Harrison also said ElBaradei's failure to meet with Kim was unlikely to signal a reluctance to cooperate with the agency. In the past, IAEA delegates visiting North Korea would not expect to meet with high Foreign Ministry officials, meeting instead with Atomic Agency officials.
"I would not read too much into that," he said.
International talks involving the United States, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Russia and China that are to look at progress made since the denuclearization deal was agreed on Feb. 13 are to begin Monday in Beijing.
Also planned are working group sessions between those countries on economic and energy cooperation, peace and security in Northeast Asia and the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula as part of the landmark pact. Those meetings are to take place through the weekend.
The North Korean nuclear crisis began in 2002, when Washington alleged that Pyongyang had a uranium enrichment program in addition to its acknowledged plutonium program. North Korea then withdrew from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and expelled ElBaradei's inspectors.
The North is to eventually receive 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil for abandoning all its nuclear programs. U.S. officials have stressed this must include an alleged uranium enrichment program, which the North has never publicly admitted having.
© The Canadian Press 2007
Wednesday » March 14 » 2007
U.N. chief inspector says North Korea committed to getting rid of nuclear program
Alexa Olesen
Canadian Press
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
CREDIT:
The chief U.N. nuclear negotiator Mohamed ElBaradei arrives at a press conference in Beijing. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Dalziel)
BEIJING (AP) - North Korea is committed to shuttering its main nuclear reactor within a month as long as Washington meets its promise to drop financial sanctions, the chief U.N. nuclear inspector said Wednesday after a one-day trip to Pyongyang.
In the first trip by the International Atomic Energy Agency since its inspectors were kicked out four years ago, agency head Mohamed ElBaradei said North Korea discussed how it would shut its main reactor and welcome back UN inspectors.
The assessment was an encouraging sign that a month-old nuclear disarmament pact between North Korea, the United States and four other countries remains on track, if, as ElBaradei said, "fragile."
He said North Korean officials told him they were "fully committed" to implementing the deal and that they were "ready to work with the agency to make sure that we monitor and verify the shutdown of the Yongbyon" nuclear reactor.
The reactor is believed to have produced the plutonium for the nuclear weapon North Korea detonated in a test blast on Oct. 9.
Yet the next month will be crucial, with the agreement laying down timetables for North Korea's disarmament and rewards for doing so. Already there were signs of rough going.
"The agreement is still quite fragile, precarious, so I hope all parties will see to it we continue to solidify that agreement," he said.
North Korean officials told ElBaradei they were waiting for the United States to drop financial sanctions against it, he said.
The frozen accounts in the Banco Delta Asia, including US$24 million (euro18.2 million) in North Korean assets, have been a sore spot for the North Korean government.
A U.S. government official said Monday the Treasury Department is expected to make an announcement this week that could help overseas regulators identify highest-risk and lower-risk account holders. This risk assessment in turn could be used by Macau to release money that has been frozen. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
"Until we see what the U.S. is doing on the banking sanctions and how North Korea reacts to that we really must be very cautious about whether they will shutdown the reactor," said Selig Harrison, director of the Asia program at the Washington-based Center for International Policy.
"This is the most serious threat to the Feb. 13 agreement," he said. "The whole thing could bog down on that issue very easily."
Harrison that if the United States decides on a partial lifting of sanctions against the North, Pyongyang would likely respond in kind with a partial implementation of their commitments.
The U.S. alleged the bank helped North Korea distribute counterfeit currency and engage in other illicit activities. Banks around the world, meanwhile, severed ties with North Korea for fear of losing access to the U.S. financial system.
ElBaradei said he was told that North Korea was committed to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula but that getting it back into the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty - it withdrew in January 2003 - would be a slow, incremental process.
"All we can do now is make sure the process does not derail," he said.
ElBaradei was originally meant to meet with the North's chief nuclear negotiator Kim Gye Kwan but the schedule was changed at the last minute but ElBaradei dismissed concerns that he had been snubbed.
Kim "was sick, he fell ill after coming back from New York," ElBaradei said. "It is not true that he was too busy."
He met instead with another vice foreign minister of the same rank, Kim Hyong Jun, as well as Ri Je Son, head of the North's General Bureau of Atomic Energy and Kim Yong Dai, vice president of the Supreme People's Assembly.
Harrison also said ElBaradei's failure to meet with Kim was unlikely to signal a reluctance to cooperate with the agency. In the past, IAEA delegates visiting North Korea would not expect to meet with high Foreign Ministry officials, meeting instead with Atomic Agency officials.
"I would not read too much into that," he said.
International talks involving the United States, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Russia and China that are to look at progress made since the denuclearization deal was agreed on Feb. 13 are to begin Monday in Beijing.
Also planned are working group sessions between those countries on economic and energy cooperation, peace and security in Northeast Asia and the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula as part of the landmark pact. Those meetings are to take place through the weekend.
The North Korean nuclear crisis began in 2002, when Washington alleged that Pyongyang had a uranium enrichment program in addition to its acknowledged plutonium program. North Korea then withdrew from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and expelled ElBaradei's inspectors.
The North is to eventually receive 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil for abandoning all its nuclear programs. U.S. officials have stressed this must include an alleged uranium enrichment program, which the North has never publicly admitted having.
© The Canadian Press 2007
Saturday, February 17, 2007
North and South Korea to hold high level talks
At least one part of the world seems to be calming down a little and working towards a peaceful resolution of issues. North and South Korea are still technically at war and have been for over 50 years. No doubt North Korea misses the aid provided by the south in terms of fertilizer and rice and also fuel oil.
North, South Korea agree to high-level talks
Last Updated: Thursday, February 15, 2007 | 5:18 AM ET
The Associated Press
The two Koreas agreed to resume stalled high-level talks later this month in Pyongyang, officials said Thursday, amid signs of easing tensions on the divided peninsula after the North signed a breakthrough disarmament agreement.
The cabinet-level talks — the highest dialogue channel between the two Koreas — will be held in the North's capital from Feb. 27 to March 2. The talks had been suspended for seven months amid chilled relations following North Korea's missile launches in July and nuclear test in October.
South Korea's Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung said Thursday's meeting between lower-level officials in North Korea's border city of Kaesong "would serve as an opportunity for South-North relations and dialogue to develop to a new level for peace on the Korean Peninsula."
North Korea's chief delegate Maeng Kyong Il told the meeting that "there should not be repeated vicious cycles of North-South relations frequently breaking down," according to pool reports by South Korean journalists.
South Korean delegate Lee Kwan-se told reporters in Kaesong that the two sides agreed that the cabinet-level talks should resume "as early as possible. We had a consensus that South-North relations should be restored promptly," he said.
Cabinet-level talks — which usually serve as a forum for discussion of Seoul's aid to the impoverished North — could lead to a resumption of the regular delivery of rice and fertilizer to the Communist nation. South Korea suspended its aid after the July missile tests.
Continue Article
Agreement reached in six-nation talks
The move to restart the talks comes after the nuclear agreement, reached Tuesday among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.
The disarmament pact requires North Korea to seal its main nuclear reactor, allow international inspectors and begin accounting for other nuclear programs within 60 days. Within that time, more talks are planned on ending the hostilities between North Korea and the U.S. and Japan.
In return, North Korea will receive 45,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil, a modest down payment on a promised 900,000 tonnes in oil or aid of a similar value if it ultimately disarms. The promised oil is more than two-thirds of North Korea's entire oil consumption in 2004, according to the CIA Factbook.
The aid package is worth about $250 million US at current prices.
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and U.S. President George W. Bush agreed during a telephone conversation that "they were now at a starting point to kick-start the process of resolving the North Korea nuclear issue," Roh's office said in a statement Thursday.
The two leaders also "stressed that each country should sincerely implement" the nuclear deal, according to the statement.
South Korea's Foreign Minister Song Min-soon had similar telephone discussions with his U.S. and Chinese counterparts, and planned to talk with the Japanese and Russian foreign ministers, the Foreign Ministry said.
Both Roh and Song are on a European tour.
While the nuclear agreement marks a turnabout for the North, it still potentially faces years of trouble-filled negotiations.
No timetable was set for North Korea — which has a history of backpedalling on agreements — to declare all of its nuclear programs and ultimately dismantle them.
The two Koreas remain technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a ceasefire, but their relations have warmed significantly since the one-and-only summit between their leaders in 2000.
© The Canadian Press, 2007
North, South Korea agree to high-level talks
Last Updated: Thursday, February 15, 2007 | 5:18 AM ET
The Associated Press
The two Koreas agreed to resume stalled high-level talks later this month in Pyongyang, officials said Thursday, amid signs of easing tensions on the divided peninsula after the North signed a breakthrough disarmament agreement.
The cabinet-level talks — the highest dialogue channel between the two Koreas — will be held in the North's capital from Feb. 27 to March 2. The talks had been suspended for seven months amid chilled relations following North Korea's missile launches in July and nuclear test in October.
South Korea's Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung said Thursday's meeting between lower-level officials in North Korea's border city of Kaesong "would serve as an opportunity for South-North relations and dialogue to develop to a new level for peace on the Korean Peninsula."
North Korea's chief delegate Maeng Kyong Il told the meeting that "there should not be repeated vicious cycles of North-South relations frequently breaking down," according to pool reports by South Korean journalists.
South Korean delegate Lee Kwan-se told reporters in Kaesong that the two sides agreed that the cabinet-level talks should resume "as early as possible. We had a consensus that South-North relations should be restored promptly," he said.
Cabinet-level talks — which usually serve as a forum for discussion of Seoul's aid to the impoverished North — could lead to a resumption of the regular delivery of rice and fertilizer to the Communist nation. South Korea suspended its aid after the July missile tests.
Continue Article
Agreement reached in six-nation talks
The move to restart the talks comes after the nuclear agreement, reached Tuesday among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.
The disarmament pact requires North Korea to seal its main nuclear reactor, allow international inspectors and begin accounting for other nuclear programs within 60 days. Within that time, more talks are planned on ending the hostilities between North Korea and the U.S. and Japan.
In return, North Korea will receive 45,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil, a modest down payment on a promised 900,000 tonnes in oil or aid of a similar value if it ultimately disarms. The promised oil is more than two-thirds of North Korea's entire oil consumption in 2004, according to the CIA Factbook.
The aid package is worth about $250 million US at current prices.
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and U.S. President George W. Bush agreed during a telephone conversation that "they were now at a starting point to kick-start the process of resolving the North Korea nuclear issue," Roh's office said in a statement Thursday.
The two leaders also "stressed that each country should sincerely implement" the nuclear deal, according to the statement.
South Korea's Foreign Minister Song Min-soon had similar telephone discussions with his U.S. and Chinese counterparts, and planned to talk with the Japanese and Russian foreign ministers, the Foreign Ministry said.
Both Roh and Song are on a European tour.
While the nuclear agreement marks a turnabout for the North, it still potentially faces years of trouble-filled negotiations.
No timetable was set for North Korea — which has a history of backpedalling on agreements — to declare all of its nuclear programs and ultimately dismantle them.
The two Koreas remain technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a ceasefire, but their relations have warmed significantly since the one-and-only summit between their leaders in 2000.
© The Canadian Press, 2007
Friday, February 16, 2007
Was North Korea faced to make a deal?
It is strange that food shortages and economic problems would force a deal now. North Korea has had these problems for years and still carried on with a nuclear program. Perhaps it is the sanctions against luxury goods that has hurt the Great Leader's penchant for Western Luxury Goods.
Article at this http://rawstory.com/showoutarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reuters.com%2Farticle%2FtopNews%2FidUSSEO16189720070216
North Korea likely forced into nuclear deal: envoy
Fri Feb 16, 2007 9:04AM EST
By Jack Kim
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea was probably pushed to take a deal to shut down its nuclear reactor in return for aid because of its faltering economy and limited diplomatic options, a senior South Korean official said on Friday.
In a breakthrough deal, impoverished North Korea agreed this week to seal its main nuclear reactor and the source of its weapons-grade plutonium in return for an initial 50,000 tonnes of fuel or economic aid of equivalent value.
"I think they may have exhausted all the cards they had with the nuclear test," South Korea's chief nuclear envoy, Chun Yung-woo, told a forum. "Considering how difficult the North's economy and its energy situation are, they would have to think long and hard before giving up on this scale of benefits."
Following decades of military build-up and nuclear development, North Korea said last October that it had conducted its first nuclear test.
But its industries are in tatters and its agricultural production falls short of feeding its people. The reclusive communist state has long relied on ally China and neighbor South Korea for aid.
Multiple missile launches in July and then the October nuclear test angered China, prompting Pyongyang's biggest benefactor to join U.N. Security Council trade and financial sanctions on the North and briefly cut off crucial energy aid.
South Korea, a key donor of food and fertilizer, suspended that aid last year after the missile tests.
Chun said South Korea had no qualms over footing the bill for the first 50,000 tonnes of fuel under the Tuesday deal.
"Paying for it first doesn't mean we'll be paying more, so even from a symbolic point of view, I think it's appropriate for us to pay first," he said.
If Pyongyang shuts down and seals its Yongbyon facility within 60 days, energy-hungry North Korea would receive another 950,000 tonnes of fuel oil, or equivalent aid, when it takes further steps to disable its nuclear capabilities.
The deal also calls on North Korea to make a complete disclosure of all its nuclear facilities, including the disputed existence of a highly enriched uranium program.
Chun said Pyongyang was content to get U.S. agreement to discuss the state of ties between the two countries, and it would involve reciprocal visits by Kim Kye-gwan, Pyongyang's envoy, and U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill to each other's capitals.
© Reuters 2006. All rights reserved. .
Article at this http://rawstory.com/showoutarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reuters.com%2Farticle%2FtopNews%2FidUSSEO16189720070216
North Korea likely forced into nuclear deal: envoy
Fri Feb 16, 2007 9:04AM EST
By Jack Kim
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea was probably pushed to take a deal to shut down its nuclear reactor in return for aid because of its faltering economy and limited diplomatic options, a senior South Korean official said on Friday.
In a breakthrough deal, impoverished North Korea agreed this week to seal its main nuclear reactor and the source of its weapons-grade plutonium in return for an initial 50,000 tonnes of fuel or economic aid of equivalent value.
"I think they may have exhausted all the cards they had with the nuclear test," South Korea's chief nuclear envoy, Chun Yung-woo, told a forum. "Considering how difficult the North's economy and its energy situation are, they would have to think long and hard before giving up on this scale of benefits."
Following decades of military build-up and nuclear development, North Korea said last October that it had conducted its first nuclear test.
But its industries are in tatters and its agricultural production falls short of feeding its people. The reclusive communist state has long relied on ally China and neighbor South Korea for aid.
Multiple missile launches in July and then the October nuclear test angered China, prompting Pyongyang's biggest benefactor to join U.N. Security Council trade and financial sanctions on the North and briefly cut off crucial energy aid.
South Korea, a key donor of food and fertilizer, suspended that aid last year after the missile tests.
Chun said South Korea had no qualms over footing the bill for the first 50,000 tonnes of fuel under the Tuesday deal.
"Paying for it first doesn't mean we'll be paying more, so even from a symbolic point of view, I think it's appropriate for us to pay first," he said.
If Pyongyang shuts down and seals its Yongbyon facility within 60 days, energy-hungry North Korea would receive another 950,000 tonnes of fuel oil, or equivalent aid, when it takes further steps to disable its nuclear capabilities.
The deal also calls on North Korea to make a complete disclosure of all its nuclear facilities, including the disputed existence of a highly enriched uranium program.
Chun said Pyongyang was content to get U.S. agreement to discuss the state of ties between the two countries, and it would involve reciprocal visits by Kim Kye-gwan, Pyongyang's envoy, and U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill to each other's capitals.
© Reuters 2006. All rights reserved. .
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Behind Bush's North Korea Reversal
There is a stark contrast with the manner in which the US is dealing with Iran and Iraq (and SYria) and North Korea. While critics speak of rewarding bad behavior it seems that having nukes is a powerful bargaining chip. Perhaps this article is correct that the neo-cons are losing power. But why then does the neo-con program seem right on track with respect to Iran. Perhaps the element of realism that is creeping in is just that the Mid-East is the important neo-con area that will facilitate US control of crucial energy supplies. North Korea has nothing but a populace often on the verge of starvation. Except for its conflict with the US it can probably work out accomodation with the South once its nuclear programme is no longer regarded as menacing.
MSNBC.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hirsh: Behind Bush's N. Korea Reversal
Bush’s North Korea accord is a reversal for the administration —and a sign that the administration’s hardliners are falling from grace.
WEB-EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY
By Michael Hirsh
Newsweek
Updated: 4:34 p.m. CT Feb 13, 2007
Feb. 13, 2007 - More than anything else he has done in his second term, George W. Bush’s embrace of a fuel-for-nukes accord with North Korea shows that he is adjusting to the harsh realities of diplomacy—and straying ever further from the ideology of regime change. The proof: the president has cut a deal that is likely to help a member of his notorious “Axis of Evil,” Kim Jong Il, stay in power longer, even while it may make the world safer.
The agreement announced today represents a major change in attitude that goes beyond North Korea. The most evident sign is that the accord, under which Pyongyang will immediately get 50 tons of emergency fuel oil with nearly a million more tons to come, is plainly a reversal of the administration’s previous principled stand against the “nuclear blackmail” that it accused Bill Clinton of engaging in. Until this week the administration refused to reward “bad behavior”—secret weapons programs—by promising dictators like Kim goodies in return for giving up nukes. “There’s a little bit of tripping over earlier rhetoric,” says Michael Green, the senior director for Asia on the National Security Council in Bush’s first term.
Another sign that a shift in attitude is afoot is the answer that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gave at a news conference today, when she was asked about comments made by John Bolton, her just-departed U.N. ambassador. Bolton told CNN that the deal "sends exactly the wrong signal to would-be proliferators around the world: 'If we hold out long enough, wear down the State Department negotiators, eventually you get rewarded’.” Bolton urged Bush to reject the deal. When Rice was asked, “Do you think there's any substance to his criticism?” she replied tersely: “No, I don’t.” She then made it clear that Bolton, the one-time favorite of Dick Cheney and other hardliners, was so far out of the loop that he didn’t know what he was talking about. “I can assure you that the president of the United States knows every detail of this agreement,” she said.
Former senior administration members say the North Korea deal is evidence of two big changes: one, several key hardliners have left, and the influence of others, including Cheney, is waning; and two, that Bush is now consumed with Iraq, Iran and the Middle East. “It was so clearly against the approach we had tried to impose,” says a former top Bush nonproliferation official. “Why now? I can think couple of reasons. One is that he is completely overwhelmed with the Middle East and desperate for a political victory anywhere. And a lot of people who were against engagement have either left the administration, like Bolton and Bob Joseph [Rice’s former under secretary for counterproliferation], or are otherwise preoccupied, like the vice president with the Scooter Libby trial [in which Cheney’s former chief of staff is accused of perjury].”
Another significant sign came the day before the agreement, when Bush was asked in a C-SPAN interview whom he thought were the most underrated presidents. “Well, George H.W. Bush is one of them,” the president said. “He followed President Reagan, who was such a really strong president that people have yet to take a look at my dad.'' For Bush watchers who had long portrayed the son as a committed Reaganite in a state of rebellion against his father’s centrist administration, this was a striking statement. Six years into an administration marked by a reluctance to negotiate its way out of trouble—most recently when Bush rejected the advice of his father’s secretary of State, Jim Baker, about sitting down with Iran and Syria—Bush seems to have a new appreciation for his father’s moderate views about “talking to the enemy.”
All of which leaves the question: is the North Korea pact a good deal? Critics said it was full of pitfalls—not least of which is that it doesn’t directly address the disposition of Pyongyang’s alleged arsenal of several nuclear weapons, nor its secret uranium-enriching program. Asked about this, Rice said that if North Korea is to get rewards beyond the first phase, it will have to give up everything. “The joint statement covers the fact that the North is to declare and abandon, dismantle all of its nuclear programs,” she said. “And everybody understands what 'all' means.”
Other critics also said that the deal could have been negotiated six years ago, before the North had already tested a nuclear weapon. And even some former moderate officials of the Bush administration agreed with Bolton’s view that the accord sends a worrisome signal to other rogue states. “The North Koreans wanted two things. They wanted serious negotiations. And they wanted separate talks on financial issues. We told them to go screw themselves until Oct. 9, when they tested. Then we say OK. To me that’s troublesome. You’re reinforcing bad behavior,” said the former senior nonproliferation expert. Under the agreement, Kim’s regime is getting the kind of recognition it has long sought. Rice and the foreign ministers of the other major parties—China, Japan, Russia and South Korea—are to meet with the North Korean foreign minister for the first time after the initial 60-day phase, during which the North is to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear plant and list all its nuclear programs.
Still, nuclear experts say the agreement promises a safer region—and world—than a situation in which a desperate and out-of-control North Korea continues to manufacture nuclear material and weapons. And the deal has a couple of big advantages over the 1994 Agreed Framework, the Clinton-era pact under which the North was to get 500,000 tons of heavy fuel oil each year and billions of dollars’ worth of civilian nuclear equipment in return for freezing and "eventually" dismantling its plutonium program. “The price tag is small compared to agreed framework,” says Green. In addition, between pressures applied together by the United States and an unusually cooperative China, the North Korean regime is under unprecedented severe financial and economic strain.
But even Rice admitted that “this is still the first quarter. There is still a lot of time to go on the clock.” Says Green: “I can imagine a dozen ways North Koreans could make mischief with this deal,” including perhaps refusing to acknowledge its secret uranium program. But for the Bush administration, it is a first: a new deal for the Axis of Evil.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17136874/site/newsweek/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© 2007 MSNBC.com
MSNBC.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hirsh: Behind Bush's N. Korea Reversal
Bush’s North Korea accord is a reversal for the administration —and a sign that the administration’s hardliners are falling from grace.
WEB-EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY
By Michael Hirsh
Newsweek
Updated: 4:34 p.m. CT Feb 13, 2007
Feb. 13, 2007 - More than anything else he has done in his second term, George W. Bush’s embrace of a fuel-for-nukes accord with North Korea shows that he is adjusting to the harsh realities of diplomacy—and straying ever further from the ideology of regime change. The proof: the president has cut a deal that is likely to help a member of his notorious “Axis of Evil,” Kim Jong Il, stay in power longer, even while it may make the world safer.
The agreement announced today represents a major change in attitude that goes beyond North Korea. The most evident sign is that the accord, under which Pyongyang will immediately get 50 tons of emergency fuel oil with nearly a million more tons to come, is plainly a reversal of the administration’s previous principled stand against the “nuclear blackmail” that it accused Bill Clinton of engaging in. Until this week the administration refused to reward “bad behavior”—secret weapons programs—by promising dictators like Kim goodies in return for giving up nukes. “There’s a little bit of tripping over earlier rhetoric,” says Michael Green, the senior director for Asia on the National Security Council in Bush’s first term.
Another sign that a shift in attitude is afoot is the answer that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gave at a news conference today, when she was asked about comments made by John Bolton, her just-departed U.N. ambassador. Bolton told CNN that the deal "sends exactly the wrong signal to would-be proliferators around the world: 'If we hold out long enough, wear down the State Department negotiators, eventually you get rewarded’.” Bolton urged Bush to reject the deal. When Rice was asked, “Do you think there's any substance to his criticism?” she replied tersely: “No, I don’t.” She then made it clear that Bolton, the one-time favorite of Dick Cheney and other hardliners, was so far out of the loop that he didn’t know what he was talking about. “I can assure you that the president of the United States knows every detail of this agreement,” she said.
Former senior administration members say the North Korea deal is evidence of two big changes: one, several key hardliners have left, and the influence of others, including Cheney, is waning; and two, that Bush is now consumed with Iraq, Iran and the Middle East. “It was so clearly against the approach we had tried to impose,” says a former top Bush nonproliferation official. “Why now? I can think couple of reasons. One is that he is completely overwhelmed with the Middle East and desperate for a political victory anywhere. And a lot of people who were against engagement have either left the administration, like Bolton and Bob Joseph [Rice’s former under secretary for counterproliferation], or are otherwise preoccupied, like the vice president with the Scooter Libby trial [in which Cheney’s former chief of staff is accused of perjury].”
Another significant sign came the day before the agreement, when Bush was asked in a C-SPAN interview whom he thought were the most underrated presidents. “Well, George H.W. Bush is one of them,” the president said. “He followed President Reagan, who was such a really strong president that people have yet to take a look at my dad.'' For Bush watchers who had long portrayed the son as a committed Reaganite in a state of rebellion against his father’s centrist administration, this was a striking statement. Six years into an administration marked by a reluctance to negotiate its way out of trouble—most recently when Bush rejected the advice of his father’s secretary of State, Jim Baker, about sitting down with Iran and Syria—Bush seems to have a new appreciation for his father’s moderate views about “talking to the enemy.”
All of which leaves the question: is the North Korea pact a good deal? Critics said it was full of pitfalls—not least of which is that it doesn’t directly address the disposition of Pyongyang’s alleged arsenal of several nuclear weapons, nor its secret uranium-enriching program. Asked about this, Rice said that if North Korea is to get rewards beyond the first phase, it will have to give up everything. “The joint statement covers the fact that the North is to declare and abandon, dismantle all of its nuclear programs,” she said. “And everybody understands what 'all' means.”
Other critics also said that the deal could have been negotiated six years ago, before the North had already tested a nuclear weapon. And even some former moderate officials of the Bush administration agreed with Bolton’s view that the accord sends a worrisome signal to other rogue states. “The North Koreans wanted two things. They wanted serious negotiations. And they wanted separate talks on financial issues. We told them to go screw themselves until Oct. 9, when they tested. Then we say OK. To me that’s troublesome. You’re reinforcing bad behavior,” said the former senior nonproliferation expert. Under the agreement, Kim’s regime is getting the kind of recognition it has long sought. Rice and the foreign ministers of the other major parties—China, Japan, Russia and South Korea—are to meet with the North Korean foreign minister for the first time after the initial 60-day phase, during which the North is to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear plant and list all its nuclear programs.
Still, nuclear experts say the agreement promises a safer region—and world—than a situation in which a desperate and out-of-control North Korea continues to manufacture nuclear material and weapons. And the deal has a couple of big advantages over the 1994 Agreed Framework, the Clinton-era pact under which the North was to get 500,000 tons of heavy fuel oil each year and billions of dollars’ worth of civilian nuclear equipment in return for freezing and "eventually" dismantling its plutonium program. “The price tag is small compared to agreed framework,” says Green. In addition, between pressures applied together by the United States and an unusually cooperative China, the North Korean regime is under unprecedented severe financial and economic strain.
But even Rice admitted that “this is still the first quarter. There is still a lot of time to go on the clock.” Says Green: “I can imagine a dozen ways North Koreans could make mischief with this deal,” including perhaps refusing to acknowledge its secret uranium program. But for the Bush administration, it is a first: a new deal for the Axis of Evil.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17136874/site/newsweek/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© 2007 MSNBC.com
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
More on the North Korea US et al agreement
The material below comes from this site. The fact that John Bolton disapproves of the agreement is a positive sign as far as I am concerned. Both sides lack faith in the other though and there are many issues still to be resolved but at least the deal seems a positive start. As this article notes it seems to involve a repudiation of past conditions that the Bush administration has placed on negotiations. We will see what happens when it is examined by the administration further. I watched a report on the agreement on CBC TV. One commentator claimed that it was Condoleeza Rice who made the deal possible. She convinced Bush according to him that a deal was possible and this would show that he could successfully negotiate conflicts and also the deal would call attention away from Iraq. If things go badly in Iraq I doubt that any success of this deal will do much to defray attention from the bad news. Perhaps opposition in congress will prevent funding of the US aid to North Korea and lead again to unraveling of the agreement.
NUCLEAR DIPLOMACY:
The Washington Post has a decent summary of the deal struck between the United States and North Korea:
In a landmark international accord, North Korea promised Tuesday to close down and seal its lone nuclear reactor within 60 days in return for 50,000 tons of fuel oil as a first step in abandoning all nuclear weapons and research programs.
North Korea also reaffirmed a commitment to disable the reactor in an undefined next phase of denuclearization and to discuss with the United States and other nations its plutonium fuel reserves and other nuclear programs that "would be abandoned" as part of the process. In return for taking those further steps, the accord said, North Korea would receive additional "economic, energy and humanitarian assistance up to the equivalent of 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil."
The full text is here. John Bolton hates it, but he did make one astute point: "This is the same thing that the State Department was prepared to do six years ago. If we going to cut this deal now, it's amazing we didn't cut it back then." No kidding. It seems likely that North Korea would have accepted this offer before it tested a nuke last year. So why wasn't it done then? Seeing as how North Korea probably won't ever give up what nuclear weapons it now possesses, that looks like a glaring blunder in hindsight.
That said, it's certainly good news that the Yongbyon plutonium facility will be shut down and sealed, so credit to the Bush administration. On the other hand, Robert Farley's take seems accurate: "While a success on its own terms, this agreement represents an utter rejection of the Bush administration's approach to North Korea thus far. Carrots, instead of sticks, brought compromises. Nuclear weapons were the subject of diplomacy, not the precondition." Contrast this with the administration's approach to Iran, in which disarmament is the precondition of talks, rather than the hoped-for final goal.
I also wonder how this agreement will fare back in Washington. As Fred Kaplan has pointed out, the Agreed Framework struck by the Clinton administration in 1994 foundered, in part, because Republicans in Congress failed to fund the light-water reactors promised to North Korea. We'll see if Democrats behave differently this time around. Also, Bolton told CNN, "I'm hoping that the president has not been fully briefed on it and he still has time to reject it." So anything's still possible. And, of course, Kim Jong Il could always act erratically and back out all of the sudden...
--Bradford Plumer
NUCLEAR DIPLOMACY:
The Washington Post has a decent summary of the deal struck between the United States and North Korea:
In a landmark international accord, North Korea promised Tuesday to close down and seal its lone nuclear reactor within 60 days in return for 50,000 tons of fuel oil as a first step in abandoning all nuclear weapons and research programs.
North Korea also reaffirmed a commitment to disable the reactor in an undefined next phase of denuclearization and to discuss with the United States and other nations its plutonium fuel reserves and other nuclear programs that "would be abandoned" as part of the process. In return for taking those further steps, the accord said, North Korea would receive additional "economic, energy and humanitarian assistance up to the equivalent of 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil."
The full text is here. John Bolton hates it, but he did make one astute point: "This is the same thing that the State Department was prepared to do six years ago. If we going to cut this deal now, it's amazing we didn't cut it back then." No kidding. It seems likely that North Korea would have accepted this offer before it tested a nuke last year. So why wasn't it done then? Seeing as how North Korea probably won't ever give up what nuclear weapons it now possesses, that looks like a glaring blunder in hindsight.
That said, it's certainly good news that the Yongbyon plutonium facility will be shut down and sealed, so credit to the Bush administration. On the other hand, Robert Farley's take seems accurate: "While a success on its own terms, this agreement represents an utter rejection of the Bush administration's approach to North Korea thus far. Carrots, instead of sticks, brought compromises. Nuclear weapons were the subject of diplomacy, not the precondition." Contrast this with the administration's approach to Iran, in which disarmament is the precondition of talks, rather than the hoped-for final goal.
I also wonder how this agreement will fare back in Washington. As Fred Kaplan has pointed out, the Agreed Framework struck by the Clinton administration in 1994 foundered, in part, because Republicans in Congress failed to fund the light-water reactors promised to North Korea. We'll see if Democrats behave differently this time around. Also, Bolton told CNN, "I'm hoping that the president has not been fully briefed on it and he still has time to reject it." So anything's still possible. And, of course, Kim Jong Il could always act erratically and back out all of the sudden...
--Bradford Plumer
Peace Deal with North Korea?
It looks as if there is an agreement but as the article points out there are still a lot of issues to be worked out. Agreements have become unstuck before.
North Korea agrees to nuclear disarmament
Last Updated: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 | 5:24 AM ET
The Associated Press
North Korea agreed at talks with the U.S. and four regional powers Tuesday to shut down its main nuclear reactor within 60 days and eventually dismantle its atomic weapons program.
Under the deal, the North will receive an initial 50,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil for shutting down and sealing its main nuclear reactor, to be confirmed by international inspectors, Chinese envoy Wu Dawei said. The North eventually will receive another 950,000 tonnes in aid for irreversibly disabling the reactor.
North Korea and the U.S. also will embark on talks aimed at resolving disputes and restarting diplomatic relations, Wu said.
The Korean Peninsula has remained in a state of war for more than a half-century since the Korean War ended in a 1953 ceasefire.
The U.S. will begin the process of removing North Korea from its designation as a terror-sponsoring state and also on ending U.S. trade sanctions, but no deadlines were set, according to the agreement. Japan and North Korea also will seek to normalize relations, Wu said.
After the initial 60 days, a joint meeting will be convened of foreign ministers from all countries at the talks — China, Japan, Russia, the United States and the two Koreas. Another meeting of the nuclear envoys was scheduled for March 19.
Under a 1994 U.S.-North Korea disarmament agreement, the North was to receive 500,000 tons of fuel oil a year before construction was completed of two nuclear reactors that would be able to generate 2 million kilowatts of electricity.
That deal fell apart in late 2002 when the U.S. accused the North of conducting a secret uranium enrichment program, sparking the latest nuclear crisis that led to the six-nation talks.
In September 2005, North Korea was promised energy aid and security guarantees in exchange for pledging to abandon its nuclear programs. But talks on implementing that agreement repeatedly stalled on other issues.
In the last few days, the talks had appeared to be on the verge of foundering, and envoys made clear that their frustration was increasing and their patience growing thin. The current round was to conclude on Monday but as they progressed toward a deal, negotiators extended it late into the night and then into the early hours of Tuesday.
The U.S. envoy to the talks, Christopher Hill, emerged in the early morning hours of Tuesday looking weary after a marathon 16-hour negotiating session and announced that a tentative deal had been struck.
Hill said the draft agreement still must be reviewed by the home governments of the six countries at the talks, but he was upbeat about its chances. He said he was in "constant communication" with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
"We feel it's an excellent draft; I don't think we're the problem," he said at the time.
If Pyongyang follows through with its promises, they would be the first moves the Communist nation has made to scale back its atomic development after more than three years of six-nation negotiations marked by delays, deadlock and the North's first nuclear test explosion in October.
In September 2005, North Korea was promised energy aid and security guarantees in exchange for a pledge to abandon its nuclear programs. But talks on implementing that agreement snarled on other issues and that plan went nowhere.
North Korea agrees to nuclear disarmament
Last Updated: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 | 5:24 AM ET
The Associated Press
North Korea agreed at talks with the U.S. and four regional powers Tuesday to shut down its main nuclear reactor within 60 days and eventually dismantle its atomic weapons program.
Under the deal, the North will receive an initial 50,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil for shutting down and sealing its main nuclear reactor, to be confirmed by international inspectors, Chinese envoy Wu Dawei said. The North eventually will receive another 950,000 tonnes in aid for irreversibly disabling the reactor.
North Korea and the U.S. also will embark on talks aimed at resolving disputes and restarting diplomatic relations, Wu said.
The Korean Peninsula has remained in a state of war for more than a half-century since the Korean War ended in a 1953 ceasefire.
The U.S. will begin the process of removing North Korea from its designation as a terror-sponsoring state and also on ending U.S. trade sanctions, but no deadlines were set, according to the agreement. Japan and North Korea also will seek to normalize relations, Wu said.
After the initial 60 days, a joint meeting will be convened of foreign ministers from all countries at the talks — China, Japan, Russia, the United States and the two Koreas. Another meeting of the nuclear envoys was scheduled for March 19.
Under a 1994 U.S.-North Korea disarmament agreement, the North was to receive 500,000 tons of fuel oil a year before construction was completed of two nuclear reactors that would be able to generate 2 million kilowatts of electricity.
That deal fell apart in late 2002 when the U.S. accused the North of conducting a secret uranium enrichment program, sparking the latest nuclear crisis that led to the six-nation talks.
In September 2005, North Korea was promised energy aid and security guarantees in exchange for pledging to abandon its nuclear programs. But talks on implementing that agreement repeatedly stalled on other issues.
In the last few days, the talks had appeared to be on the verge of foundering, and envoys made clear that their frustration was increasing and their patience growing thin. The current round was to conclude on Monday but as they progressed toward a deal, negotiators extended it late into the night and then into the early hours of Tuesday.
The U.S. envoy to the talks, Christopher Hill, emerged in the early morning hours of Tuesday looking weary after a marathon 16-hour negotiating session and announced that a tentative deal had been struck.
Hill said the draft agreement still must be reviewed by the home governments of the six countries at the talks, but he was upbeat about its chances. He said he was in "constant communication" with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
"We feel it's an excellent draft; I don't think we're the problem," he said at the time.
If Pyongyang follows through with its promises, they would be the first moves the Communist nation has made to scale back its atomic development after more than three years of six-nation negotiations marked by delays, deadlock and the North's first nuclear test explosion in October.
In September 2005, North Korea was promised energy aid and security guarantees in exchange for a pledge to abandon its nuclear programs. But talks on implementing that agreement snarled on other issues and that plan went nowhere.
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US will bank Tik Tok unless it sells off its US operations
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said during a CNBC interview that the Trump administration has decided that the Chinese internet app ...
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US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said during a CNBC interview that the Trump administration has decided that the Chinese internet app ...
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Mike Dunleavy the governor of the US state of Alaska is intending to introduce legislation that will repeal the two state boards which regu...
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(August 11 ) In recent weeks, a recurring problem has been that Russia has intercepted US surveillance planes over the Black Sea as they wer...
