YONHAP NEWS

Six-party working group to meet amid hope for early denuclearization of N. Korea

By Byun Duk-kun
SHENYANG, China, Aug. 16 (Yonhap) -- A working group of six nations in talks on ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions will convene here Thursday amid hopes that the North will agree to a timetable to disable its nuclear facilities by the end of the year under a February deal.

   Christopher Hill, Washington's chief nuclear envoy, said the talks in this northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang will go smoothly because the countries are not "trying to hammer out an agreement" and North Korea has made progress in implementing the nuclear accord.

   "The purpose is not so much to negotiate an agreement, but rather to identify the technical procedures that can be used to affect disablement," Hill told reporters Wednesday following a dinner meeting with his South Korean counterpart Chun Yung-woo.

   Both Chun and Hill arrived here Wednesday for what is expected to be a two-day meeting of the working group set to open later Thursday. South Korean officials have said the Chinese hosts may extend the meeting by one day depending on the need for more talks.

   At a meeting of a separate working group last week in the South Korean side of the truce village of Panmunjom, located in the demilitarized zone between the Koreas, North Korea said it may implement the second phase of steps even before it is provided with all the benefits promised in return.

   North Korea is entitled to a total of 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil in exchange for shutting down and eventually disabling its key nuclear facilities at Yongbyon, as well as making a complete declaration of its nuclear programs to the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

   Pyongyang shut down the facilities as part of the first phase of steps under the February agreement, and Seoul shipped 50,000 tons of heavy oil promised to Pyongyang in exchange for the shutdown.

   Hill's unusual optimism also follows his meeting with the North's chief nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-gwan in Beijing on Monday, at which the two, according to the U.S. envoy, made "some progress" in discussing how to implement the second phase -- disablement and declaration.

   Also bringing hope for additional concessions from North Korea is the second-ever summit by the leaders of the Koreas, slated for Aug. 28-30 in the North Korean capital.

   South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun vowed Wednesday that his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il will be conducted in a way that creates "synergy" between the six-nation nuclear talks and inter-Korean dialogue.

   The next plenary session of the nuclear talks, involving the two Koreas, the U.S., Japan, China and Russia, is expected to be held early next month.

   bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)