International efforts to put an end to North Korea's nuclear program appeared to hit a snag yesterday after Pyongyang defiantly insisted it had lived up to its end of a six-party disarmament deal.
Days after the North missed a Dec. 31 deadline to disable its nuclear plants and provide a full declaration of its nuclear facilities, it insisted it had given the list to the US in November, a claim Washington denied.
North Korea said it had been forced to slow compliance with the deal reached last February as the other parties to the agreement -- China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the US -- had not held up their end of the bargain.
It accused the other parties of failing to deliver promised energy aid, and also said the US had not "honored its commitments" to remove Pyongyang from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
"Looking back on what has been done, one may say that the DPRK is going ahead of others in fulfilling its commitment," the North's foreign ministry said in a statement released late on Friday.
Top US envoy Christopher Hill was to arrive in Tokyo tomorrow at the start of a regional tour likely to focus on efforts to kickstart the long-running negotiations.
Analysts said the disarmament process had reached a turning point.
"Efforts to dismantle North Korea's nuclear facilities are now at a crossroads due to a dispute over a suspected uranium enrichment program," said Paik Hak-soon, an analyst at Sejong Institute in Seoul.
"Both North Korea and the United States are in a dilemma over how to establish the pattern of action," he said, adding that the North would be looking for "strong incentives" from Washington before proceeding with disarmament.
"The statement means that North Korea will not take further action until the United States and other parties reciprocate. They think they have done enough," Paik said.
On the issue of the nuclear declaration, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said the US was "still waiting" for North Korea's full account of its nuclear programs.
"We are awaiting the declaration, and we want it to be complete, full and accurate, and so that's what we'll be looking for. And we don't have that yet," he said.
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