N. Korea, U.S. Compromise for Peace
Pyongyang, however, demands light-water reactor first before joining NPT

North Korea agreed on Sept. 19 to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs and oblige itself to international atomic safeguards in return for economic and energy aid along with security assurances, opening the way for multilateral efforts to solve the decade-long nuclear standoff.
"The six parties unanimously reaffirmed that the goal of the six-party talks is the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner,"the joint statement signed by the members to the six-party talks said.
But North Korea, in the following that, said it will join the Non-nuclear Proliferation Treaty as soon as the U.S. provides a light water nuclear reactor, which the U.S. claimed that it violates the agreement signed in Beijing. The U.S. said North Korea should join the NPT before the LWR is provided.
The six-point agreement effectively concluded seven days of intense negotiations in Beijing that was resumed after five weeks of recess. It was the first concrete result to come out from the multilateral negotiations that convened in August, 2003, only to be bogged down by conflicting interests and most recently boycotted for over a year by North Korea.
The chief U.S. envoy praised the breakthrough as a "win-win situation"and a "good agreement for all of us,"but he promptly urged Pyongyang to make good its promises by ending operations at its main nuclear facility at Yongbyon.
"what is the purpose of operating it at this point?"said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill. "The time to turn it off would be about now."The envoys to the six-party talks agreed to return in November to begin negotiating details of how to put the statement of principles into action. Observers said the joint statement will become a stepping stone for the relevant parties to speed up their negotiations with the North and other parties to conclude the nuclear standoff which has been considered a major international threat. The South Korean government welcomed the outcome, while highlighting the leading role it has played in reaching the breakthrough.
"The joint statement, which comprehensively carried all relevant subjects will not only solve the North's nuclear problems but also serve as an opportunity for substantial progress in settling peace on the peninsula,"Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Man-soo said in a statement. Kim said President Roh Moo-hyun congratulated Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon and the nuclear talks delegation for their achievement.
China's top envoy, Woo Dawei hailed the agreement as "The most successful outcome"ever since the six-nation talks began a year after the dispute erupted in 2002. The talks include China, Japan, Russia, the United States and the two Koreas.
The negotiations has been deadlocked over North Korea's demand to keep the right to civilian nuclear programs after it disarms and to construct a light-water reactor for its energy source. Putting aside the question for now, the statement said,"other parties expressed their respect and agreed to discuss at an appropriate time the subject of the provision of a light-water reactor to North Korea. The statement also effectively elaborated on other key issues in what delegates preferred to call "creative ambiguity."According to a joint statement issued at the talks'conclusion, the North "committed to abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs and returning at an early date?to the NPT and International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards. Pyongyang had been demanding the statement says it "abandon"nuclear weapons and programs instead of "dismantle."Responding to Pyongyang's claims that it needs atomic weapons for defense, North Korea and the United States pledged to respect each other to peaceful coexistence, and also to take steps to normalize relations. Japan also agreed to normalize relations with the communist state in accordance with the Pyongyang Declaration, on the basis of the settlement of unfortunate past and the outstanding issues of concern, apparently referring to North Korea's kidnapping of Japanese to train spies in the 1980s.
The statement deviated from clarifying the sequence of North Korea's nuclear dismantlement and compensations by saying the sides agreed to take steps to implement the agreement "in a phased manner in line with the principles of commitment for commitment, action for action."The other countries at the talks said they were willing to give energy assistance to the North, including a South Korean plan to deliver electricity across the heavily armed border that divides the peninsula.
The head of the U.N. nuclear nonproliferation agency welcomed North Korea's decision to stop building nuclear weapons and allow international inspections, saying he hoped his experts could take the country at its word as soon as possible. "The earlier we go back, the better,"said head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei, in his first reaction between the North and five other countries. The North is believed to have enough radioactive material for about a half-dozen bombs from its publicity acknowledged plutonium program, but hasn't performed any known nuclear tests to prove its capability.
In February, the North claimed it had nuclear weapons. Delegates to the talks remained cautious of future proceedings, in apparent concern of the possibility of the agreement falling apart as it did in 2002. North Korea was promised two light-water reactors under a 1994 deal with Washington to abandon its nuclear weapons. That agreement fell apart in late 2002 with the outbreak of the latest nuclear crisis, when U.S. officials said North Korea admitted having a secret uranium enrichment program.


Key points from joint statement:

■Pyongyang states it has the right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy and the other parties express their respect and agree to discuss at an appropriate time the provision of a light-water reactor to North Korea.
■The five other parties express willingness to provide oil, energy aid and security guarantees to North Korea.
■The six parties reaffirm that the goal of the six- party talks is the verifiable denuclearization of the peninsula.
■North Korea is to return at an early date to the treaty on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons and International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.
■The United States affirms it has no nuclear weapons on the peninsula and has no intention of attacking or invading North Korea.
■South Korea reaffirms commitment not to receive or deploy nuclear weapons in accordance with a 1992 joint declaration and affirms there are no nuclear weapons within its territory.
■Washington and Tokyo are to normalize ties with Pyongyang.
■The six parties agree to hold a fifth round of talks in Beijing in November. nw

Members representing six parties including Song Min-soon, Assistant Foreign Minister of ROK and Christopher Hill, Assistant Secretary of State of U.S., shake hands after concluding six-party talks in Beijing.