N Korea agreement strengthens US, China ties: US official

Washington, Feb 21 (UNI) The six-party agreement to end North Korea's nuclear programme was a result of multilateral cooperation and it has strengthened the diplomatic relation between the United States and China, says top US negotiator Christopher Hill.

In an interview to the ABC News, Ambassador Hill, who is assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs said, ''This whole six-party process has done more to bring the US and China together than any other process I'm aware of.'' The agreement, announced in Beijing on February 13 by diplomats from China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, North Korea and the United States, had called on Pyongyang to shut down its main nuclear reactor complex at Yongbyon and allow international inspectors to verify the process as a first step towards disclosing and dismantling its entire nuclear infrastructure.

In exchange, North Korea will receive international economic, humanitarian and energy assistance.

Under the terms of the deal, North Korea has agreed to shut down its reactors and allow commencement of international inspections within 60 days.

''We'd like to move right into the next phase on day 61,'' Hill said.

He said during the second phase the signatory countries ''would hope to get these reactors disabled, meaning they can't pull them back up online.'' ''Then, beyond that, we would look for a phase that dismantles,'' he said.

''During the first 60-day phase, we will be discussing a list which is aimed at eventually getting a declaration from the North Koreans on precisely what they've got in terms of nuclear programmes.

''Because, ultimately, we do need to get these 50 or so kilos (of plutonium) already produced, we need to get those under international supervision and out of there.'' The US official said the new agreement differed from the 1994 Agreed Framework, which offered US assistance in exchange for an agreement by North Korea not to pursue nuclear enrichment.

The 1994 agreement was between the United States and North Korea, whereas the new agreement ''is a multilateral deal'' invlolving China, Japan, Russia and South Korea also, Hill said.

''I think that fundamentally is different.

''The new agreement also attempts to address some of the underlying problems in the region instead of focusing exclusively on the North Korean nuclear programme. So it's a more comprehensive, holistic approach,'' he said.

UNI