The United States would not offer fuel shipments to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) until Pyongyang accepts the verification protocol of its nuclear facilities, State Department said Friday.
"Future fuel shipments will not go forward absent a verification regime," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack at the daily press briefing.
According to the spokesman, the five parties, all involved in the political talks over the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, have reached an understanding over the suspension of fuel shipments to the DPRK.
McCormack said one fuel shipment from Russia, which is on the way to the DPRK, would be the last if Pyongyang refuses to accept the verification protocol agreed by the other five parties at the latest round meeting of the six-party talks.
"The North Koreans have not come through and signed on to the verification protocol, which all other parties have agreed to," McCormack said.
The six parties, namely the DPRK, the United States, South Korea, Japan, Russia and China, ended their third meeting during the sixth round of talks in Beijing on Thursday without substantial progress on how to verify the DPRK nuclear facilities.
Under an agreement reached at the six-party talks in February 2007, the DPRK agreed to abandon all nuclear weapons and programs, and also promised to declare all its nuclear programs and facilities by the end of 2007. In return, the DPRK would get diplomatic and economic incentives, including its removal from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
After its nuclear envoy Christopher 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 list on Oct. 11.
But the two countries have since disputed over the verification deal. The U.S. side claims that the inspectors, according to the deal reached with the DPRK, could take samples away from the nuclear facilities, while the DPRK insists that it never agreed to remove the samples.
Source:Xinhua
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