North Korea has agreed to permit the return of UN nuclear inspectors as part of a package of measures to ease acute tensions on the peninsula, U.S. troubleshooter Bill Richardson said Monday.
North Korea
has
agreed to permit the return of UN nuclear inspectors as part of a package of
measures to ease acute tensions on the peninsula,
U.S.
troubleshooter Bill Richardson said Monday.
In a statement issued as he visited Pyongyang, Richardson said North Korean
leaders also agreed to negotiate the sale of nuclear fuel rods to a third
party, "such as South Korea", and to discuss a military commission
and hotline.
Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the UN, said also he was "very
encouraged" that North Korea's military had forsaken retaliation after South
Korean forces held a live-fire artillery drill on a flashpoint border island.
"During my meetings in
Pyongyang
, I
repeatedly pressed
North Korea
not
to retaliate," the
New Mexico
governor said.
"The result is that
South
Korea
was able to flex its muscles,
and
North Korea
reacted in a statesmanlike manner. I hope this will signal a new chapter and a
round of dialogue to lessen tension on the Korean peninsula," he said.
Confirming a CNN report,
Richardson
's
statement said
Pyongyang
had
agreed to allow the return of inspectors from the UN's International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA).
North Korea
in
April 2009 pulled out of six-nation nuclear disarmament talks and ordered
U.S.
and
IAEA nuclear inspectors out of the country, after the UN Security Council
condemned
Pyongyang
for
an April 5 rocket launch.
It staged its second nuclear test a month later.
Tensions have soared anew since a North Korean artillery attack last month on
the South Korean
island
of
Yeonpyeong
,
which killed four people including civilians and damaged dozens of homes.
In addition, the North's disclosure last month of a new uranium enrichment
plant in addition to its longstanding plutonium operation has sparked fears of
a potential new source of bomb-making material.
Richardson
said the North Koreans would
allow "IAEA monitors access to
North
Korea
's uranium enrichment
facility".
They were also prepared to negotiate "a deal for a third party, such as
South
Korea
, to buy fresh-fuel rods from
North
Korea
".
They would discuss the military commission, grouping representatives from the
two
Koreas
plus
the
United States
,
"to monitor and prevent conflicts in the disputed areas of the West
(Yellow) Sea".
And they were ready to create "a hotline between the North Korean and
South Korean militaries to avert potential crises",
Richardson
's
statement said.
In
Pyongyang
over
the weekend,
Richardson
met
top nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-Gwan and Major General Pak Rim-Su, who leads
North Korean forces along the tense border with the South.
Richardson
was due to brief reporters in
Beijing
on Tuesday, after his flight
out of
Pyongyang
was
cancelled on Monday owing to bad weather.
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