North Korea Confirms it Will Honour Nuclear Pledge
According to an official at the White House, North Korea has advised the US it will keep its promise to divulge all information relating to its nuclear activity. The North Korean capital, Pyongyang, has affirmed it will adhere to a deal whereby it receives aid in return for denuclearisation, and it expects Washington to act similarly.
North Korean Promise Followed Letter from Bush
The promise was effectively a response to a letter written by the US President, George W. Bush, to his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong-Il, earlier in December.
This reply, said the White House official, was passed on verbally though the New York-based North Korean delegation.
"We'll live up to our side and hope you'll live up to your side," the official stated - describing, in his own terms, the thrust of the North Korean response. It is not clear, however, whether this actually came from Kim Jong-Il.
On the officia's terms, we cannot reveal his identity.
Bush's First Direct Correspondence with N. Korea's Kim Jong-Il
It is believed that President Bush's personal correspondence to the North Korean leader is the first of its kind to have been made. Previously, the US President has referred to North Korea as within "an axis of evil."
North Korea Urged to Fully Declare Nuclear Position
The letter itself, Christopher Hill, the US envoy, handed to Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun just over two weeks ago. In it, President Bush urged North Korea to "...come forward with a full and complete declaration of their nuclear programmes", according to Gordon Johndroe - a spokesman for the US National Security Council.
He added that all the leaders associated with the six-nation discussions on North Korea, and its nuclear activity, had also received written correspondence from the President.
Under the terms of a deal forged in February 2007, Pyongyang is obliged to reveal information on all of its nuclear programmes. The US, by return, pledged to remove North Korea from its list of countries linked to terrorism.
Source - Armed Forces International's US Correspondent
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