U.S. chief nuclear envoy Christopher Hill is due to have talks next week with officials of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) during his Asian tour, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Monday.
Hill, assistant secretary of state, was leaving for Tokyo on Monday, and will then travel to Singapore on Wednesday, ahead of six-party talks in Beijing on Dec. 8. He was expected to meet with DPRK officials before the Beijing talks, Wood said.
The DPRK agreed in 2007 in talks with the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia to disable its Yongbyon facilities in exchange for economic aid and political concessions, including its removal from the U.S. terrorism list.
After Hill paid a three-day visit to Pyongyang in early October and struck a verification deal with the DPRK to save the stalled six-party talks, the Bush administration dropped the country from the terrorism blacklist on Oct. 11.
But the two countries have disputed over the verification issue, when the U.S. side claims inspectors, according to the deal reached with the DPRK, could take samples away from the nuclear facilities. The DPRK, however, insists that it never agreed to allow inspectors to take samples from its nuclear complex to verify past nuclear activities.
Source:Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article