Envoys to the working group meeting on denuclearization of Korean Peninsula
continued discussions today on details of disablement.
"The value of today's meeting is full exchange of information, and various
parties, especially the DPRK, can study the information and take it back to the
capitals," US chief envoy Christopher Hill told reporters when leaving the
hotel.
Hill said he will exchange ideas with the US experts and then have bilateral
consultations with China and the Republic of Korea (ROK), but no plan with the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) yet.
"There was some common understanding that we can further develop," he said.
"It's moving along. The issue comes down to coming up with the precise means
to disable the facility, and a precise understanding what the declaration looks
like," Hill said.
The two-day meeting held in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning
Province, is the second meeting of denuclearization working group aimed at
declaring and disabling nuclear facilities of the DPRK.
The six parties held their first plenary session yesterday afternoon, and the
focus remains on details of the disablement and declaration. Experts from six
sides continued consultations at Thursday night discussing technical issues.
Japanese chief delegate to the meeting Akio Suda said there's still something
unclear in DPRK's statement, and they need further discussion.
ROK chief delegate Chun Yung Woo said the DPRK have expressed their
willingness to declaration and disablement, but uncertainties remain. Chun is
scheduled to have a bilateral consultation with the Russian side.
Hill said the DPRK should declare not only the Yongbyon nuclear facility, and
the declaration should include nuclear programs, facilities and materials.
"There need to be a declaration, so we know what to disable," he said.
The chief delegates to the six-party talks, involving China, DPRK, the United
States, ROK, Russia and Japan, agreed in their last meeting in July to hold the
meetings of the five working groups in August.
The first meeting of the denuclearization working group was held in Beijing
on March 17 and 18 ahead of the sixth round of talks.
The US and the DPRK are expected to meet at the end of August on
normalization of bilateral relations, but time and venue are not set yet.