N. Korea says it notified U.S. of all nuclear programs

By IRNA-Kyodo

Beijing : North Korea insisted Friday it is not to blame for the ”regrettable” failed Dec. 31 deadline to implement a six-party nuclear deal, saying it has already fulfilled most of its obligations by disabling its nuclear facilities to the utmost extent and by declaring its nuclear programs to the United States.


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In a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, Pyongyang also confirmed it has slowed down disablement work in response to delays in the delivery of rewards promised by other parties in the six-way process, which involves North and South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan.

”Now that other participating nations delay the fulfillment of their commitments,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman said in the statement, North Korea ”is compelled to adjust the tempo of the disablement of some nuclear facilities on the principle of ‘action for action.

”Under the terms of the six-party deal, North Korea was to have disabled all its nuclear facilities and declared all its nuclear programs by the end of 2007 in exchange for energy assistance.

But diplomats involved in the six-way process have said North Korea has balked after complaining that heavy fuel oil Russia was to have shipped to it in November has not reached the country yet.

”Looking back on what has been done, one may say that the DPRK is going ahead of others in fulfilling its commitment,” the Foreign Ministry spokesman said, using an acronym for the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The spokesman took issue with allegations that North Korea has failed to meet a year-end deadline to declare all its nuclear programs, saying the country ”has done what it should do” in that respect.

North Korea, he said, ”worked out a report on the nuclear declaration in November last year and notified the U. S. side of its contents.

”After Washington requested further discussion on the contents of the report, Pyongyang engaged in ”sufficient consultation with the U.S. side,” he said.

”When the U. S. side raised ‘suspicion’ about uranium enrichment, the DPRK allowed it to visit some military facilities in which imported aluminum tubes were used as an exception and offered its samples as requested by it, clarifying with sincerity that the controversial aluminum tubes had nothing to do with the uranium enrichment,” he said.

The United States had said it suspects the tubes were used in a covert program to enrich uranium for weapons.

It has said North Korea’s declaration should cover its suspected uranium enrichment program, separate from a known plutonium-based program, and the alleged transfer of nuclear technologies to other countries such as Syria.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman called nuclear cooperation with Syria ”a fiction” and insisted that North Korea ”does not transfer nuclear weapons, technology and knowledge.

”On the disablement process, the spokesman said since the process started early in November last year, ”all the operations were completed within the ‘technologically possible scope’ as of Dec.31.”

”At present, the unloading of spent fuel rods scheduled to be completed in about 100 days is underway as the last process.

However, the delivery of heavy fuel oil and energy-related equipment and materials to the DPRK, commitments of other participating nations, has not been done even 50 percent.

”The spokesman also accused the United States of not honoring its commitments to cross North Korea off the list of state sponsors of terrorism and stop applying the ”Trading with the Enemy Act” against it.

”All facts go to clearly show what is the reason behind the delayed process of the implementation of the Oct. 3 agreement,” the spokesman said.

”The DPRK still hopes that the Oct. 3 agreement can be smoothly implemented should all the participating nations make concerted sincere efforts on the principle of simultaneous action,” he said.

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