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Japan Says North Korean Energy Demands Blocking Nuclear Weapons Deal
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=16329CA:A6F02AD83191E1604F6D95CB122466709574F7DCC14957C0 Official says North
Korea's "excessive demands" for energy compensation are main obstacle
to an agreement The North Korea nuclear talks in Beijing are
apparently snagged on the question of how much energy assistance the
United States and other nations will have to provide Pyongyang in
exchange for initial steps toward nuclear dismantlement. VOA's Kurt
Achin has more from the Chinese capital.

For the last couple of days, envoys to the six-nation talks on North
Korea's nuclear weapons programs have said "a single issue" stands in
the way of a preliminary deal.

On Sunday, senior Japanese negotiator Kenichiro Sasae revealed what
that issue was. Sasae told reporters North Korea's "excessive demands"
for energy compensation were the main obstacle to an agreement.

Senior South Korean negotiator Chun Yung-woo says it would be
"unreasonable" to expect a breakthrough on Sunday. He agrees with
Sasae that the primary dispute is over how and when to compensate
North Korea.

He says the main problem is how to tie any economic or energy aid to
the speed and scope of North Korea's steps toward nuclear
dismantlement.

The negotiators have been working from a proposed list of reciprocal
steps, drafted earlier in the week by China, that would start the
nuclear disarmament process.

The ultimate aim is implementation of North Korea's September 2005
pledge to scrap its nuclear weapons programs in return for economic
and energy aid, security guarantees and diplomatic benefits.







U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill listens to a
speaker during the opening of another round of the six-party talks, 8
Feb 2007The chief U.S. negotiator, Assistant Secretary of State
Christopher Hill, said Sunday it was time to "wrap this up and get
moving."

Although Hill has not specifically identified energy as the issue
delaying the talks, he does say North Korean demands are what is
holding up a deal.  "I would say the problem is North Korea wanting a
very precise measurement of how we're going to go forward."

In a 1994 agreement between North Korea and the United States,
Washington agreed to provide two so-called light water nuclear
reactors to the North in exchange for Pyongyang shutting down its
existing, older-style nuclear reactor at Yongbyon.

That deal failed after Washington confronted North Korean authorities
in 2002 with evidence that Pyongyang was violating the agreement.
North Korea restarted the reactor in 2003, and experts believe it has
now produced enough plutonium to make several nuclear bombs. Last
October, the North conducted its first nuclear test.

Hill has called for patience over the past two days, and his public
comments have been less pessimistic than those of his Japanese and
South Korean colleagues. He says a separate dispute with Pyongyang
over U.S. financial sanctions targeting alleged North Korean illegal
activities is no longer a hindrance to the nuclear talks.

China and Russia are also party to the talks, which were in their
fourth day Sunday.


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