Beijing talks produce only draft agreement on Korean nukes

SIX-NATION disarmament talks on North Korea ended yesterday without an expected agreement, and with envoys instead opting to send a detailed, draft plan on shuttering the North’s nuclear programmes to their governments for approval.

The four days of talks, which began on an optimistic note after North Korea agreed to disable its programs by year’s end, were supposed to set specifics for the disabling, among other issues.

Envoys described the talks as recessed, and host China said that they may reconvene in 48 hours depending on what the six governments — China, the US, Japan, Russia and the two Koreas — decide about the draft blueprint.

The draft “lays out an entire roadmap until the end of the year” for the North’s nuclear disarmament, US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters before boarding a plane for New York.

“We’re into the nuts and bolts now of implementing de-nuclearization,” Hill added.

The level of detail, he said, made it necessary for him to return to Washington for consultations.

Though Hill declined to disclose details and the draft was not released, South Korean envoy Chun Yung-woo said the proposed blueprint set some deadlines for North Korea and for the other parties to meet.

The recess is the latest glitch for the six as they try to push forward a February agreement under which communist, impoverished North Korea agreed to declare and dismantle all its nuclear programs in return for 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil or other assistance.

The latest talks aimed to set terms for the North’s declaration and dismantling of its programme.

Under the February deal, these terms should have been agreed to five months ago.

Talks have dragged on for four years, but, if ultimately successful, they would roll back a nuclear program that, a year ago, allowed North Korea to detonate a nuclear device.

Experts say the programme may have produced more than a dozen nuclear bombs.

Envoys characterised the meeting as a step forward. South Korea’s Chun said, “The North showed its resolve to bring an agreement home. They expressed enthusiasm and made many concessions.”

Under terms in the draft, North Korea reiterated its December 31 deadline for declaring and disabling its nuclear programmes.