Top South Korean envoy Chun Yung-woo yesterday urged North Korea
to shut down its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon.
"The next step is to shut down the nuclear facilities in
Yongbyon under the supervision of the IAEA," Chun was quoted as
saying by a South Korean official.
Chun made the remarks at the plenary meeting of the sixth-round
six-party talks, which opened in Beijing Monday morning.
Prior to the talks, the US agreed to unfreeze a North Korean
bank account at Macao-based Banco Delta Asia (BDA).
The account held by North Korea was frozen in 2005, after the US
Treasury Department, suspecting the BDA of helping North Korea
launder money, ordered American financial institutions to suspend
business ties with the Macao-based bank.
Rejecting the charge, North Korea demanded the US lift the
financial sanctions before it could return to the six-party talks,
which remained stalled for 13 months since the end of 2005.
All parties are preparing to fulfill their corresponding
commitments after the funds are unfrozen and South Korea has
pledged to provide energy assistance to North Korea in initial
steps to fulfill the September 19 joint statement. Therefore, the
next step is to shut down the nuclear facilities in Yongbyon, said
Chun.
Under a February 13 deal, North Korea will have 60 days to shut
down its Yongbyon nuclear facilities in return for energy aid and
security pledges.
If the denuclearization will successfully reach the final
destination, the most important thing is to remove distrust between
related parties and create favorable political environments, said
Chun.
(Xinhua News Agency March 20, 2007)
