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N. Korea taken off U.S. ‘terror list’

SINGAPORE: The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has expressed willingness to “resume disablement” of the nuclear facilities at Yongbyon under a new “package” on “verification.”

In terms of the “package,” the U.S. rescinded its own classification of North Korea as a “state-sponsor of terrorism.” And, in the “agreement” with the U.S. on the removal of the ‘terrorism’ tag, North Korea announced measures designed to help its dialogue-partners “verify” its “nuclear declaration.”

While the U.S. disclosed details of this deal on Saturday, North Korea on Sunday acknowledged the latest “action-for-action” accord. The new U.S.-North Korea agreement would now be “guaranteed” in the form of a “verification protocol,” slated for adoption during the relevant Six-Party Talks (SPT) soon. Besides these two countries, the SPT participants are China, South Korea, Japan, and Russia.

The mandate of the SPT, chaired by China, is to “denuclearise” the entire Korean Peninsula; and this process entails disarming North Korea, insofar as its nuclear-weapons programme and capabilities are concerned. Integral to this protracted process is North Korea’s new pledge to “resume disablement” of the plutonium-based reactor, fuel facility, and reprocessing plant at Yongbyon. The disablement is a prelude to the proposed “dismantlement” of these facilities.

U.S. officials said the now-agreed “verification package” would provide for international inspections of not only the plutonium-based complex, but also the suspected uranium-related facilities in North Korea. Experts from the partner-countries would now regain access to the plutonium-based facilities after the formalisation of the “verification protocol.” However, North Korea’s explicit “consent” would be required for the inspection of any suspected uranium-related site.

China would soon consult its SPT-partners to announce a date for the next round of talks among the six parties. South Korea welcomed the latest compromise formula. And, Japan’s Prime Minister Taro Aso said the accord “does not mean a loss of leverage” to resolve the issues arising out of North Korea-organised abductions of several Japanese nationals during the Cold War. Japan, Mr. Aso said in Tokyo, could continue its parleys with North Korea on this issue in this new context as well. Japan had suggested that North Korea be retained in the U.S. list of “rogue states” until a satisfactory resolution of the kidnap issue.

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