North Korea has filed a declaration of its nuclear programs with China, which chairs the six-party talks, and the United States has started a procedure to remove the North from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Japan wants to see progress on the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea and opposed delisting the North. It faces the difficult task of pushing for the denuclearization process while seeking a solution to the abduction issue.
In the Oct. 3 second-phase agreement in the talks, North Korea agreed to disable its three main nuclear facilities in Yongbyon and to provide a "complete and correct declaration" of all its nuclear programs by the end of 2007. The disablement work has been done only at the 5,000-Kw experimental graphite-moderated reactor. The North tested a nuclear weapon in October 2006. But the declaration does not list its nuclear weapons; it lists only nuclear materials and facilities. The U.S. has said that the handling of nuclear weapons will be taken up in the next phase. Information on the North's uranium-enrichment program and nuclear cooperation with Syria is in another document given to the U.S.