Envoys from six negotiators on North Korea are discussing arrangements for the second phase of the disarmament process in Beijing, involving setting a deadline for completing the February disarmament deal. The second phase aims to permanently disable North Korea's nuclear facilities and to receive a full account of its nuclear weapon activities.
"North Korea and its delegation said they are ready to declare and decommission - this was said directly," said Vladimir Rakhmanin, Russia's delegate chief at the current meeting.
He added Pyongyang had already shown its political resolve by stopping all its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon 60 miles north of Pyongyang as part of the first disarmament stage.
Sources close to negotiations said "the decommissioning phase" would first of all include unloading fuel from the nuclear reactor, which is a costly process, and then experts will have to decide where to store it and what to do with it. The source said it could take from six months to a year.
The negotiations between envoys from China, Japan, Russia, the United States and the two Koreas began Wednesday in Beijing and were originally planned to last for two days but the diplomats decided to hold bilateral consultations before making a final statement, possibly Friday.
Rakhmanin said Thursday experts from the six negotiators could meet in Moscow in one or two months in preparation for a foreign ministerial meeting.
"In this period, Moscow will host a meeting of experts as part of the working group on security in northeast Asia," said Rakhmanin.
