North Korea: Nuclear Disarmament Pledge Unchanged
The leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-il, has said that his country's stance on the termination of its nuclear programme has not altered. The comment was made to Wang Jiarui - a Chinese diplomat visiting North Korea - on the 30th January.
In 2007, North Korea pledged to halt its nuclear work in an agreement through which, by return, it would receive international aid.
North Korea Missed Deadline for Nuclear Facility Disclosure
In July, it shut down the prime Yongbyon nuclear reactor. However, it subsequently missed a deadline under which terms it should have disclosed the extent of its nuclear facilities by the 31st December.
North Korea has linked the fact it failed to meet the deadline to the slow rate at which aid is arriving
Kim Jong-il: Nuclear Deal Difficulties Can be Overcome
Mr Wang's visit represented an attempt to press the North Korean leader on the nuclear subject.
"The DPRK (North Korea) side's stance of advancing the six-party talks and implementing the various agreements jointly reached has not changed," Mr Kim told him, according to Chinese news agency Xinhua.
"The difficulties that have currently arisen are temporary and can be surmounted."
Whilst in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, Mr Wang also passed on a message from Hu Jintao - the President of China. The details of the message, however, are not known.
China, South Korea, Japan, Russia and the US make up the five nations involved in the process through which North Korea will reach full nuclear disarmament.
US diplomat Sung Kim is scheduled to visit Pyongyang in coming days - a visit during which North Korea's nuclear position will be a topic of discussion.
As ever, Armed Forces International will continue to provide unrivalled coverage of the very latest news to emerge on the subject of North Korea's progress towards complete nuclear termination.
Source - Armed Forces International's Far East Correspondent
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