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Two Koreas to discuss energy aid despite nuclear deadlock
Seoul (AFP) Sept 17, 2008 North and South Korean officials will meet Friday to discuss energy aid for the North despite a deadlock in a six-nation nuclear disarmament deal, the foreign ministry in Seoul said. The meeting proposed by Pyongyang comes amid uncertainty about the North's commitment to the deal and about the health of its leader Kim Jong-Il. South Korea chairs an energy aid working group under the six-party framework. The meeting will be held at the border truce village of Panmunjom. After Kim missed a major military parade last week, South Korean officials said he suffered a stroke around mid-August and underwent brain surgery from which he is recovering. Some analysts speculate that his poor health is contributing to the deadlock in the disarmament agreement, under which the North began disabling its plutonium-producing nuclear reactor and other plants last November. In return the five negotiating partners -- South Korea, the United States, Japan, China and Russia -- promised to provide one million tons of heavy fuel oil or equivalent energy assistance to the impoverished communist state. Nearly half of this has been delivered. In June the North handed over a list of its nuclear programmes and facilities and the United States began the process of removing it from a terrorism blacklist. But Washington says it will not take the final step until the North agrees on ways to verify its nuclear declaration. On August 26 the North announced that in protest it has halted disablement work. It later took initial steps towards restarting the reactor. Friday's talks will be led by Hwang Joon-Kook, head of the South Korean foreign ministry's North Korean nuclear issue bureau, and Hyon Hak-Bong, deputy chief of the US affairs bureau of the North Korean foreign ministry. Related Links Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com All about missiles at SpaceWar.com Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
North Korea vows to build up 'war deterrent'
Seoul (AFP) Sept 16, 2008North Korea on Tuesday renewed criticism of last month's joint US-South Korean military exercise and vowed to strengthen its "war deterrent" in the face of what it called invasion threats. |
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