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N Korea 'to deliver nuclear data' | N Korea 'to deliver nuclear data' |
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North Korea is set to hand over a long-awaited account of its nuclear programme to China on Thursday, Beijing's foreign ministry has said. | North Korea is set to hand over a long-awaited account of its nuclear programme to China on Thursday, Beijing's foreign ministry has said. |
The declaration, which is six months overdue, is expected to detail North Korea's plutonium enrichment efforts. | |
But analysts caution it is not expected to mention the North's alleged and separate uranium enrichment programme. | |
The handover is part of international efforts offering Pyongyang diplomatic and economic incentives to disarm. | The handover is part of international efforts offering Pyongyang diplomatic and economic incentives to disarm. |
The US has agreed that if the North Korean declaration is complete, it will take measures to remove the country from its list of states sponsoring terrorism. | The US has agreed that if the North Korean declaration is complete, it will take measures to remove the country from its list of states sponsoring terrorism. |
NORTH KOREA NUCLEAR DEAL 2002: N Korea pulls out of previous deal after US accuses it of having secret uranium programmeOctober 2006: North Korea carries out its first test of a nuclear weaponFebruary 2007: North Korea agrees to end nuclear activities in return for aidJuly 2007: North Korea closes its Yongbyon nuclear reactor and allows IAEA inspectors inDecember 2007: North Korea misses a deadline to hand over a declaration of its nuclear work | NORTH KOREA NUCLEAR DEAL 2002: N Korea pulls out of previous deal after US accuses it of having secret uranium programmeOctober 2006: North Korea carries out its first test of a nuclear weaponFebruary 2007: North Korea agrees to end nuclear activities in return for aidJuly 2007: North Korea closes its Yongbyon nuclear reactor and allows IAEA inspectors inDecember 2007: North Korea misses a deadline to hand over a declaration of its nuclear work |
Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Wu Dawei said North Korea was poised to "submit its nuclear declaration to the chair of the six-party talks and the United States will implement its obligations to remove the designation of [North Korea] as a state sponsor of terrorism". | |
Mr Wu did not take questions from reporters and it was not clear if North Korea had already submitted the declaration. | |
In North Korea itself, a senior US diplomat and media have been invited to witness the destruction of a nuclear cooling tower at its Yongbyon reactor on Friday, in an apparent show of commitment to the deal. | |
Since agreeing to end its nuclear activities in February 2007, North Korea has shut down the reactor. | |
But reaching agreement on the next stage of the deal - the declaration - has proved a tough task. | |
Neither is the declaration expected to address the issue of how many nuclear weapons Pyongyang has, and what will now happen to them. | |
Analysts say the most difficult part of the disarmament deal will focus on what happens to any nuclear weapons and weapons-grade material North Korea may have stockpiled. | |
The expected handover is dominating a meeting of G8 foreign ministers in Japan. | |
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters in the Japanese city of Kyoto there was still work to do in verifying Pyongyang had given up the pursuit of atomic weapons. | |
But some critics in the US accuse the Bush administration of making concessions to North Korea for little return. | |
Japan, meanwhile, is concerned that any move to de-list North Korea as a terrorism sponsor could marginalise its efforts to find out what happened to Japanese nationals abducted by Pyongyang 20 years ago. |