Top U.S. nuclear negotiator Mr. Christopher Hill and his North Korean counterpart, Mr. Kim Kye Gwan, held talks in Geneva last week to resolve a snag in the North's denuclearization process under the framework of the six-party talks involving the United States, North Korea, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea. It is regrettable that the talks ended inconclusively.
Last year Pyongyang agreed to disable a 5-megawatt experimental reactor, a reprocessing plant and a nuclear rod fabrication facility at Yongbyon by Dec. 31, 2007, and to provide a "complete and correct" declaration of all its nuclear programs, also by the end of 2007. But it has failed to meet the deadline for both. The disablement work continues.
The North may be trying to up the ante in the six-party negotiations by delaying the declaration of its nuclear programs. Full disclosure by the North, although indispensable in the push for its denuclearization, is not likely to go smoothly.