NKorea nuclear envoy arrives in Beijing for consultations

North Korean chief negotiator Kim Kye-gwan waves as he leaves Beijing International Airport, August 14, 2007. (David Gray/Reuters)


NKorea nuclear envoy arrives in Beijing for consultations

11.08.2007, 08.10

TOKYO, August 11 (Itar-Tass) - Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, chief representative of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) at talks with the United States, arrived in Beijing on Saturday for closed-door consultations with his American counterpart Christopher Hill on matters aimed at eliminating Pyongyang's nuclear programme. Mr. Hill is expected to arrive in the Chinese capital on August 13, the Kyodo news agency reports referring to diplomatic sources.
Mr. Hill, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and Kym Kye Gwan also intend to hold consultations with the officials of China, which coordinates the talks on Pyongyang's nuclear programme. It is reported that these meetings will precede a session of the working group on denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. The working group session is to be held in the city of Shenyang in the northeast of the People’s Republic of China from August 16 to 17.
Earlier Pyongyang shut down all its main nuclear facilities, including the country's only operating reactor, thereby terminating the production of materials that could be used for the development of nuclear weapons.
In exchange, the DPRK received compensation in the form of 50 tonnes of fuel oil. A second phase is now on the agenda. It is connected with putting all those facilities out of operation. In exchange for that, a promise has been made that Pyongyang will get 900,000 tonnes of fuel, security guarantees and normalization of relations with the US and Japan. In particular, there have appeared reports that Washington expressed preparedness to exclude the DPRK from the list of terrorism-sponsoring countries if it makes energetic steps to eliminate its present nuclear potential.