US envoy calls for verification of DPRK´s nuclear declaration

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Source: CCTV.com | 09-06-2008 09:53

Top US nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill has called for verifying of the nuclear declaration of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Hill made the announcement after meeting with his counterparts from the Republic of Korea and Japan in Beijing on Friday.

Christopher Hill says the US is willing to return to the negotiation table in order to ensure the DPRK's nuclear disablement. He stresses that the parties concerned need a means to verify Pyongyang's nuclear declaration.

Top US nuclear envoy Christopher Hill arrives at a  restaurant to meet envoys.(Jason Lee/Reuters)

Christopher Hill says, "We have publicly said on a number of occasions that we are prepared to complete our obligations as they complete theirs but a declaration without a protocol is only half of the obligation."

Hill says a form of verification is necessary to guarantee all nuclear development activities of the DPRK have been stopped.

Hill is expected to meet with Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei Saturday morning to discuss ways on ending the stand-off over the verification protocol.

The DPRK handed over the long-awaited nuclear declaration list in late June and then blew up a cooling tower in its main nuclear reactor at Yongbyon.

But the DPRK has said it stopped disabling its nuclear facilities and may restore the Yongbyon nuclear reactor because the US has not removed it from a terrorism blacklist.

Editor:Gao Jia