The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) submitted its nuclear declaration to the chair of the six-party talks here Thursday. The followings is a brief introduction to the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsular.
The nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula surfaced in the early1990s, when the United States, based on its satellite information, suspected that the DPRK had facilities for the development of nuclear weapons. But Pyongyang denied it, saying it had neither the intention nor the capability to develop nuclear weapons. It also criticized the U.S. for deploying nuclear weapons in South Korea, which threatened the DPRK's security.
From May 1992 to Feb. 1993, the DPRK accepted six irregular inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The DPRK and the U.S. signed the Framework Agreement in Geneva in Oct. 1994. Under the accord, Pyongyang agreed to freeze its nuclear program in exchange for the construction of light-water reactors and fuel oil provided by a U.S.-led Korean Peninsular Energy Development Organization to make up for the loss of electric power in the DPRK due to the suspension of its nuclear plan.
In Oct. 2002, the U.S. said the DPRK had admitted that it had a program to enrich uranium after U.S. special envoy James Kelly visited the country. The DPRK responded by claiming that it had the right to develop nuclear weapons and weapons even more powerful.
In Dec. 2002, the U.S. stopped shipping fuel oil deliveries to the DPRK, charging that the DPRK had violated the Geneva accord. In response, the DPRK announced an end to its nuclear freeze, removed the seals and monitoring cameras from the frozen nuclear facilities installed by the IAEA and restarted the nuclear facilities used for producing electricity.
Moreover, the DPRK released a statement in Jan. 2003, announcing its withdrawal from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty while claiming it had no intention to develop nuclear weapons.
The Chinese government has made positive efforts for a peaceful solution for the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsular and finally brokered the six-party talks involving China, the DPRK, the United States, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Russia and Japan.
The first round of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue was held in Beijing in Aug. 2003, in which the principle of peacefully resolving the nuclear issue through negotiations had been established.
Now, the six-party talks have entered the sixth round.
On Feb. 13, 2007, the third phase of the fifth round of the six-party talks ended in Beijing with a joint statement on the first step toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. In July the same year, the DPRK closed and sealed its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon. On October 3, the second phase of the sixth round of six-party talks released a joint document, named the Second-Phase Actions for the Implementation of the Joint Statement, under which the DPRK and the United States remain committed to improving their bilateral relations and moving toward a full diplomatic relationship. In November, the DPRK began to disable three nuclear facilities in Yongbyon. However, the agreement reached on Oct. 3 had not been effectively implemented due to a divergence on the nuclear declaration between the DPRK and the U.S.
The relevant parties have held many discussions since the beginning of this year in a bid to implement the joint document in a comprehensive and balanced manner.
Source: Xinhua
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