North’s Nuclear Facility Shutdown Deadline Extended

Although North Korea made no moves by the deadline (April 14) for nuclear facility shutdown reached under the February 13 deal at the six-party talks, Korea, U.S., and China apparently agreed to extend the due date.

A Korean government official said yesterday, “We just need one or two more days before we see if North Korea will put into practice the disarmament measures it said it would implement.”

This view is based on the fact that the North’s Foreign Affairs Ministry announced on April 13 that it would close down its nuclear facilities and invite IAEA inspectors back in after it confirmed that $25 million frozen at a bank in Macau was available for withdrawal.

U.S. State Department Vice-Spokesperson Tom Cathy said in Washington on April 14 (Washington time), “The due date was expected to be met, but we don’t think the agreement has been voided,” evaluating, “The announcement made by North Korea’s Foreign Affairs Ministry on April 13, we feel, shows their intention to execute the February 13 agreement. We see this as positive.”

The chief American negotiator Christopher Hill met with his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei in Beijing and said, “We were asked to be patient over a few more days (by China).”

srkim@donga.com gun43@donga.com