North Korea yesterday agreed to shut down and seal its nuclear
facility in Yongbyon within 60 days in exchange for energy a
process widely seen as a major breakthrough.
Under the deal reached at the six-party talks to denuclearize
the Korean Peninsula, Pyongyang will as the first step also accept
monitoring from, and verification by, the International Atomic
Energy Agency within the timeframe.
In return, it will receive an initial 50,000 tons of heavy fuel
oil or equivalent of economic and humanitarian aid, Wu Dawei, the
chief Chinese negotiator, said in Beijing yesterday.
North Korea will subsequently take complete measures to
irreversibly "disable" its nuclear programs and receive 950,000
tons of fuel oil, or the equivalent in the form of economic or
humanitarian aid, from China, the US, South Korea and Russia.
The 1 million tons of fuel would be worth around US$300 million
at current prices for Asian benchmark high-sulphur heavy fuel oil,
which is used in power stations, shipping and elsewhere.
The joint agreement outlining the initial actions North Korea
will take to end its nuclear drive and the economic rewards it will
receive in return was reached after five days of hard
negotiations.
All the parties agreed to take coordinated steps to implement
the joint statement of September 19, 2005 in a phased manner in
line with the principle of "action for action."
Under that agreement, Pyongyang pledged to give up its nuclear
program in exchange for energy aid and security guarantees.
According to the new agreement, bilateral talks will start
between North Korea and the US, and between North Korea and Japan,
to find ways to resolve bilateral disputes and move toward
diplomatic relations.
Washington will also begin the process of clearing North Korea
from a list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The initial actions also cover the establishment of five working
groups within 30 days on denuclearization, normalization of
US-North Korea and Japan-North Korea relations, economic and energy
cooperation, and Northeast Asia peace and security.
Meeting with heads of delegations to the talks after the closing
ceremony, State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan said the just-concluded
session is a major breakthrough and the six-party talks mechanism
itself has entered a substantive period.
"The Chinese government firmly supports the document and will
spare no efforts to take on its responsibilities," Tang said.
He said the result has once again showed that diplomatic
negotiations are the "correct and practical way" to resolve
political disputes.
US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, also the
country's chief negotiator to the talks, told reporters: "Obviously
we have a long way to go, but we're very pleased with this
agreement. It's a very solid step forward."
In Washington, the White House said the agreement is "a very
important first step" toward the denuclearization of the Korean
Peninsula.
Chinese analysts were pleased with the breakthrough.
Ruan Zongze, a senior researcher at the China Institute of
International Studies, described the agreement as a New Year's
gift.
He said "Pyongyang and Washington, like the other four sides in
the talks, had made great compromises on their positions during
Monday's 16-hour marathon-like session", which showed their
sincerity to make substantive progress.
He said it is of great political significance that the six
parties reiterated that they would fulfill the commitments made in
the 2005 joint statement.
Qi Baoliang, a researcher with the China Institute of
Contemporary International Relations, said the initial actions are
"the first important and concrete steps toward nuclear disarmament,
and the agreement charts the direction for future development."
(China Daily February 14, 2007)
