North Korea agrees to dismantle nuclear facilities

NORTH KOREA yesterday agreed to account for and disable all its nuclear programmes by the end of the year, the chief US negotiator said — the first time the communist country has offered a timeline to end its secretive atomic programme.

The North Korean envoy, in separate comments, told reporters his country was willing “to declare and dismantle” its nuclear programme, but mentioned no dates.

Before announcing the timetable, US assistant secretary of state Christopher Hill said improving relations between the two countries, long estranged, was dependent on a North Korea free of nuclear weapons.

It “is a relationship that we will continue to try to build step by step with the understanding that we’re not going to have a normalised relationship until we have a de-nuclearised North Korea”, he said.

Hours later, he said he and his North Korean counterpart had agreed that North Korea “will provide a full declaration of all of their nuclear programmes and will disable their nuclear programmes by the end of this year, 2007”.

Hill said the declaration will include uranium enrichment programmes, which the United States fears could be used to make nuclear weapons. The American envoy, who said it was the first timeline offered by North Korea, said both sides also discussed steps toward North Korea’s removal from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Kim Gye Gwan, the head of the North Korean delegation, told reporters separately: “We made it clear, we showed clear willingness to declare and dismantle all nuclear facilities.” He mentioned no dates.

“We are happy with the way the peace talks went,” Kim said.

Hill said he expected the next full session of the six-nation talks involving Japan, Russia, South Korea and China, would be held in mid-September and that it would produce a “more detailed implementation plan for disablement” of North Korea’s nuclear facilities.

The meeting in Geneva was part of the “working group” sessions called for in February’s six- nation accord in which North Korea agreed to disable its plutonium-producing reactor and declare and eventually dismantle all nuclear activities. In exchange, it will receive oil and other aid.