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Today's News | News of Jan 22, 2007
North Korean Nuclear Envoy in Beijing 

Moscow, Jan 22
North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator arrived in Beijing Monday, a visit some observers expect will lead to a breakthrough in the stalled six-nation talks on Pyongyang's controversial nuclear programme.

The negotiations, which involve North and South Korea, Russia, China, Japan and the US, were launched in 2003 to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear ambitions.

In September 2005, North Korea signed a "joint statement" committing itself to abandoning its nuclear programme in exchange for aid and security guarantees.

But the reclusive communist state boycotted the process two months later following Washington's demand that its accounts at a Macau-based bank be frozen for alleged money laundering and counterfeiting of US dollars. Since then, North Korea has conducted its first nuclear test and tested ballistic missiles.

The talks resumed in December, following a 13-month standoff, but ended without result. At a symbolic ceremony, the six participant delegations made a joint statement reiterating their commitment to further negotiations.

In Moscow, the chief North Korean negotiator Kim Kye Gwan and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov, head of the Russian delegation to the talks, discussed the prospects of continuing six-nation talks.

North Korea earlier insisted that the possibility of scrapping its nuclear programme could only be discussed once financial sanctions are lifted. 

RIA Novosti News of Jan 22, 2007

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