Print

Mail

wiki links

Negotiators agree to draft plan for N Korea

Negotiators at North Korea's disarmament talks tentatively agreed to a draft plan on disabling the North's nuclear facilities by year's end, though they said the detailed blueprint required further consideration by their governments.

The four days of talks, which began on an optimistic note after North Korea earlier agreed to a Dec. 31 deadline, were supposed to set specifics for the disabling, among other issues.

Envoys described the talks as being in recess, with host China saying that they may reconvene in 48 hours depending on what the six governments -- China, the US, Japan, Russia and North and South Koreas -- decide about the draft.

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.

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

An agreement on the blueprint would be a boost for South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun ahead of a rare summit this week with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

In his efforts to promote rapprochement with North Korea, Roh has sometimes appeared to be out of step with South Korean ally, the US.

Also see story:
Koreas challenged by `prosperity gap'

This story has been viewed 1315 times.