The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has agreed to declare and disable all its nuclear programs by the end of this year, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said on Sunday.
"One thing that we agreed on is that the DPRK will provide a full declaration of all of their nuclear programs and will disable their nuclear programs by the end of this year, 2007," Hill told a press conference following two days of talks between the United States and the DPRK.
Hill said his talks with DPRK Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye Gwan had been "very good and very substantive," which provided a better chance of success for the next round of six-party negotiations aimed at denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Besides the United States and the DPRK, the six-party negotiations also involve China, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Russia.
The next full session of the six-party negotiations is expected to start in mid-September in Beijing. Hill expected the session would produce a "more detailed implementation plan" for the disablement of the DPRK's nuclear facilities.
Asked by reporters whether the United States would remove the DPRK from a list of states accused of sponsoring terrorism in reward for the DPRK's nuclear declaration and disablement, Hill said he did not want to go "more specific."
He said he had "very good discussions" on this issue with his counterpart Kim Gye Gwan, but he would consult his government on the next steps.
The DPRK had repeatedly demand removal from the terror list, which is considered a key element in the relationship between the two countries that have been enemies for 50 years.
At the press conference, Hill also declined to reveal details on what the United States would like to do to compensate the DPRK's declaration and disablement efforts.
Kim Gye Gwan, head of the DPRK's delegation, confirmed that his country had shown "clear willingness" in the talks to fully declare and disable its nuclear programs.
"We made it clear, we showed clear willingness to declare and dismantle all nuclear facilities," Kim told reporters in a separate briefing.
"We are happy with the way the peace talks went ... And we reached agreement on a lot of things," he said in Korean.
But Kim did not mention the end-of-2007 timeline for its nuclear declaration and disablement actions.
According to Kim, the United States also showed their willingness in the talks to provide the DPRK with political and economic compensations in return for its nuclear disablement.
Political compensations mean the United States would end its hostile policy toward the DPRK, while economic compensation include energy, electricity assistance, etc.. Kim said.
Source: Xinhua
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