North Korea agrees to nuclear weapons freeze, international inspections

NORTH Korea agreed yesterday to stop building nuclear weapons and allow international inspections in exchange for energy aid, economic co-operation and security assurances, a breakthrough that marked a first step toward disarmament after two years of six-nation talks.

The chief US envoy to the talks praised the development as a “win-win situation” and “good agreement for all of us.” But he promptly urged Pyongyang to make good on its promises by ending operations at its main nuclear facility at Yongbyon.

“What is the purpose of operating it at this point?” said US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill. “The time to turn it off would be about now.”

Despite the deal’s potential to help significantly ease friction between the North and the United States after years of false starts and setbacks, Hill remained cautious.

“We have to see what comes in the days and weeks ahead,” he said.

The agreement clinched seven days of talks aimed at setting out general principles for the North’s disarmament. Envoys agreed to return in early November to begin hashing out details of how that will be done.

Then, the hard work of ensuring compliance will begin, officials attending the talks said.

“Agreeing to a common document does not mean that the solution to our problems has been found,” said Japan’s chief envoy, Kenichiro Sasae.

Another Japanese official, who spoke on condition he not be named in order to discuss the issue more freely, noted that there was no common understanding among the participants about the nature of North Korea’s nuclear programme.

The head of the UN nuclear nonproliferation agency welcomed North Korea’s decision to allow inspections, saying he hoped his experts could take the country at its word as soon as possible.

“The earlier we go back, the better,” said Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

According to a joint statement issued at the talks’ conclusion, the North “committed to abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs and returning at an early date” to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.

“The six parties unanimously reaffirmed that the goal of the six-party talks is the verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner,” the statement said.

Responding to Pyongyang’s claims that it needs atomic weapons for defence, North Korea and the United States pledged to respect each other’s sovereignty and right to peaceful coexistence, and also to take steps to normalise relations.