US denies ‘deal’ with N Korea
Envoy rejects report of deal as six-nation nuclear talks resume in Beijing.
Several rounds of six-party talks have yet to produce significant progress [AFP] |
Envoys from Japan, Russia, China, the US and the two Koreas began their first round of talks on Thursday
Nuclear negotiations |
2003 2004 June: Third round of talks discusses scope, time, and method of verification for disarming North Korea. Again no agreement is made 2005 North Korea subsequently demands a civilian light-water reactor; a demand rejected by the US and Japan 2006 December: Fifth round of talks end in deadlock. North Korea insists US financial sanctions end as a precondition to disarmament talks |
A report in Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper on Thursday said the US and North Korean envoys had signed a memorandum at talks in January agreeing that the North’s first steps towards denuclearisation should be tied to the start of US deliveries of energy aid.
North Korea’s envoy says there are many issues of confrontation to overcome [AFP] |
Although the US led calls for United Nations sanctions in the wake of North Korea’s first nuclear weapon test last October, it has since engaged in a series of diplomatic moves to persuade the North to disarm.
“Joint efforts, wisdom and flexibility from all six countries are badly needed now more than any other time,” he said.