South Korea chief negotiator, Chun Yung-woo, said yesterday his
country will provide 50,000 tons of heavy oil to North Korea as
part of the initial steps to realize denuclearization of the Korean
Peninsula.
Chun told a press conference in Beijing that the oil is part of
an energy assistance package that will eventually see North Korea
receive a million tons of oil in exchange for shutting its main
nuclear reactor.
The delivery of the remaining 950,000 tons depends on future
negotiations, said Chun.
The six parties held a four-hour working group meeting on
economy and energy cooperation yesterday afternoon at the South
Korean embassy in Beijing.
Five of the parties told the working group how they could
provide assistance to North Korea, said Chun.
The North Korean delegates explained their country was badly in
need of energy. The US said it was willing to provide within 60
days power generators that can be used in hospitals.
Chun said North Korea didn't respond to the US offer and it may
not do so until the fresh round of talks begins on March 19.
The six parties have been holding three working group meetings
since Thursday, discussing how to implement the initial steps of
the September 19 joint statement.
Two other working groups, one on regional security, the other on
denuclearization, are to meet in the coming days.
The working groups on North Korea-US relations and North
Korea-Japan relations met in New York and Hanoi in early March.
The six-party talks involve negotiators from China, the US,
Japan, Russia, North and South Korea and are aimed at
denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
(Xinhua News Agency March 16, 2007)
