All Delegates in Beijing Ready for Korean Nuclear Talks

Home>>China

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, August 26, 2003

All Delegates in Beijing Ready for Korean Nuclear Talks

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

DPRK Delegation Arrives in Beijing for Six-party Talks

With the arrival of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) delegation Tuesday morning, all delegates attending the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue have now gathered here.

The three-day talks between China, the DPRK, the United States, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Russia and Japan, are due to start Wednesday.

A series of bilateral and multilateral meetings are expected in the lead-up to the talks, but most delegations and relevant foreign embassies in China have remained close-lipped concerning specific arrangements.

According to sources from the Russian embassy, the Russian side had begun a meeting with the ROK side and was expected to meet with the Japanese side in the afternoon. The delegations from Japan, the United States and the ROK also plan to meet Tuesday.

US Delegation Arrives for Six-party Talks

Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi, head of the Chinese delegation, is scheduled to meet with other delegations Tuesday, as well as with the Chinese media.

So far, over 500 Chinese and foreign journalists have applied to the Chinese foreign ministry for coverage of the event.

China says the six-party talks represent another important step towards peacefully resolving the Korean nuclear issue, and China as the host will make all necessary preparations. The country has also pledged to cooperate with other sides to advance the talks for the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

The Diaoyutai state guesthouse, where the talks are to be held, says it has made full preparations for the event.

History of DPRK nuclear issue

The nuclear issue emerged in the early 1990s, when the United States, based on its satellite photographs, suspected that the DPRK had facilities for developing nuclear weapons and threatened inspections of them.

But the DPRK denied that it had the intention or the ability to make nuclear weapons and condemned the United States for deploying such weapons in South Korea.

From May 1992 to February 1993, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) carried out inspections in the DPRK six times.

In October 1994, the DPRK signed the Agreed Framework in Geneva with the United States, agreeing to freeze it nuclear program in exchange for the construction of two nuclear reactors by the United States. But before the reactors were built, the United States and its allies should provide fuel oil to the DPRK.

In October 2002, however, the United States said the DPRK had admitted to US special envoy James Kelly that it had a program to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons.

The nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula thus again drew international attention although the DPRK had never officially admitted the existence of the program.

In December 2002, the United States stopped shipping fuel oil to the DPRK as promised, charging that the DPRK had violated the Geneva accord.

The DPRK in turn accused the United States of failing to build the two nuclear reactors before 2003 in accordance with the 1994 accord. It said it believed its sovereignty and security were in jeopardy as the country was put on the list of the "axis of evil" by the United States.

On Dec. 22, 2002, the DPRK removed from its nuclear complex seals and monitoring cameras placed by the IAEA and planned to reactivate the uranium processing plant.

On Jan. 10, 2003, it announced its withdrawal from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but said it had no intention to develop nuclear weapons.

In April 2003, the United States, the DPRK and China held in Beijing three days of talks in Beijing, at which the DPRK submitted a bold proposal for resolving the issue.

There has been military antagonism on the Korean Peninsula for more than 50 years. The nuclear issue is indeed the legacy of the Cold War. The DPRK has accused the United States as the greatest threat to its national security while the latter insists on the non-nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The DPRK maintains that the nuclear issue has resulted from the hostile policy of the United States. As long as the United States refuses to give up this policy, it said, the DPRK will not abandon its nuclear program.

In order to solve the nuclear issue, the DPRK had asked for direct dialogues with the United States and proposed a mutual non-aggression treaty. However, the United States said the DPRK should first abandon its nuclear program and insisted that the proper way to deal with the nuclear issue is multilateral talks.

Questions?Comments? Click here

DPRK Delegation Arrives in Beijing for Six-party Talks

Four Delegations to Six-party Talks Arrive in Beijing

>> Full Coverage

US Conducts Land-based Missile Test ( 2 Messages)

Chinese Personages Appeal to Japan to Face up to History ( 2 Messages)

Disgraced Official Highlights Chinks in System ( 3 Messages)

Beijing's Economy Forecast to Grow 9-10 Percent in 2003 ( 2 Messages)

China Puts New Anti-AIDS Drug in Clinical Use ( 2 Messages)