N. Korea’s Denuclearization Expected to Speed Up

The six-party talks and North Korea’s disclosure of its nuclear program are expected to resume soon since having been stalled from October last year.

Diplomatic sources said yesterday that Pyongyang will likely submit its declaration around Thursday, and that the United States in return will move toward removing North Korea from the U.S. list of terrorism-sponsoring countries.

Pyongyang is also expected to demolish a cooling tower at its main nuclear reactor in Yongbyon Friday to publicize its completion of the second stage of denuclearization.

Many experts said the next round of the six-party talks will come only after Pyongyang makes its nuclear declaration. Others, however, predict the dialogue’s resumption this week, after which Pyongyang will broadcast the demolition of the cooling tower.

In Seoul, a government official said yesterday, “To accelerate the process of the six-party talks, we could allow North Korea to submit its declaration following the resumption of the talks. In this case, the demolition of the cooling tower could come during the six-party talks.”

With the nuclear dialogue gaining momentum, nuclear envoys are preparing for the upcoming talks. Seoul`s top negotiator Kim Sook and his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei held talks in Beijing yesterday on scheduling the talks. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill also discussed the matter with Wu.

Foreign ministers from the United States, Japan and Russia to attend the G8 summit starting Thursday in Tokyo are expected to seek resumption of the talks on the sidelines of the summit.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit Seoul this week and Beijing next week after finalizing her schedule at the G8 meeting. She will discuss implementation of the third step of Pyongyang’s denuclearization with her counterparts.

In Seoul, broadcast network MBC, which North Korea has invited to cover the cooling tower’s demolition, will send a three-member team to Yongbyon. The network is the sole South Korean media invited to the event.

jin0619@donga.com