U.S.-North Korea Neogitations

[Anchor Lead]

In the Pyongyang joint declaration, North Korea promises to permanently dismantle a nuclear facility in Yongbyon if the U.S. takes corresponding measures. With the U.S.-North Korea neogitations at a standstill, it is viewed that the North is seeking a guarantee of its regime's security. Here are more details.

[Pkg]

This is North Korea's largest nuclear facility located in Yongbyon, Pyonganbuk-do Province. It is a complex of a five-megawatt reactor producing plutonium for nuclear weapons, a reprocessing facility and a uranium enrichment facility. Its operation was once suspended and disabled in accordance with a 2007 agreement reached at the six-way denuclearization talks. However, it has been cited as a key North Korean nuclear facility, as Pyongyang began re-operating it, following the collapse of its negotiations with Washington. However, in the Pyongyang joint declaration announced on Wednesday, North Korea says that it is willing to permanently dismantle the Yongbyon nuclear facility and continue to take additional measures if the U.S. takes corresponding action. It seems that the corresponding action the North is seeking from the U.S. is a declaration of an end to the Korean War.

[Soundbite] Chung Eui-yong(Presidential Nat’l Security Adviser) : "(There were remarks on corresponding measures for denuclearization. Does this mean a war-ending declaration?) Multiple measures, including a war-ending declaration, can be reviewed."

North Korea appears to have proposed a new negotiating card in addition to the permanent shutdown of a missile test site in Dongchang-ri in order to demand a war-ending declaration from the U.S.

[Soundbite] Moon Chung-in(Presidential Special Adviser for Foreign Affairs and Security) : "A non-aggression pledge can be demonstrated through a war-ending declaration. Then, a peace treaty is put into action based on it. Therefore, the issues of nuclear reporting and inspections, and a war-ending declaration can be settled at this stage."

The U.S. has been insisting that a war-ending declaration can be made only after the North reports a list of its nuclear facilities. Therefore, it depends on future developments in the U.S.-North Korea negotiations whether or not the denuclearization process can make progress.