BEIJING, Sept 17: Delegates to multilateral negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear program have decided to extend their talks into Sunday to seek agreement on a compromise put forward by the Chinese host, officials said.
The six delegations met on Saturday afternoon, but South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said they decided to reconvene one day later as one of the teams, which was not identified, had yet to get instructions from its government.
“The talks will be extended until tomorrow,” a South Korean official said after Saturday’s meeting, which lasted just 23 minutes.
China had given the five other delegations until mid-afternoon to voice their views on the compromise document, which is a set of principles to speed the way to a permanent deal in ending the three-year standoff.
The revised proposal, now in its fifth draft, was put forward on Friday after the talks ground to a halt over North Korea’s demand for a light water reactor for civilian use, which the United States has so far rejected.
“Since we are at a critical stage, we will make efforts to produce good results through contacts and consultations with each party,” South Korean chief delegate Song Min-Soon told reporters.
Shortly before the mid-afternoon deadline set by China, delegates had hinted at disagreement over the exact wording of the proposal. “Not everyone is satisfied with the text,” Kenichiro Sasae, the head of the Japanese delegation, said.
Russia’s Interfax news agency suggested North Korea was among those unhappy with the text, quoting an unnamed North Korean official as saying it ‘repeats the United States’ position, which North Korea cannot accept’. “Therefore, another recess will likely have to be announced in the fourth round,” the official told Interfax.
The agency quoted the Russian chief negotiator Alexander Alexeyev as revealing that the reworked document includes a reference to the North’s right to civilian nuclear programs and a light water reactor.—AFP
