Six nations seek North Korea disarmament deadline

BEIJING, July 19 (Reuters) Envoys seeking to end North Korea's nuclear arms ambitions sought to forge agreement today on a deadline for disabling the North's atomic facilities and exposing its trove of nuclear secrets.

The International Atomic Energy Agency announced yesterday that North Korea had now shut five main nuclear facilities at Yongbyon. They include a reactor and an atomic fuel reprocessing plant that can extract the plutonium Pyongyang used for its first nuclear test blast last October.

Six-party talks in Beijing are aiming to set a date for completing the second phase of the disarmament deal -- permanently ''disabling'' the Yongbyon complex and receiving a full declaration of North Korea's nuclear arms activities.

Some negotiators were hopeful of a deal, possibly setting the end of 2007 as a deadline. But Japanese diplomats said the talks would likely spill over into Friday.

Chief US envoy Christopher Hill appeared upbeat before he left for negotiations.

''I think there is a feeling that there is a consensus among the six as to the sort of target timeframe for completing these tasks,'' Hill told reporters.

He said earlier the statement was likely to be a ''broad framework'' with ''precise benchmarks'' to be settled later. He declined to say whether North Korea had agreed to the end-of-year deadline.

But after the negotiators broke for lunch, Japanese diplomats said the talks were expected to extend into Friday as they seek agreement.

The talks have brought together North and South Korea, the United States, Japan, Russia and China since 2003, but concrete progress had eluded them.

However, in February, North Korea agreed to close Yongbyon in return for an initial 50,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil.

Shipments of the fuel oil began last week from South Korea.

South Korea would send a third shipment of heavy fuel oil tomorrow, an official in Seoul told reporters.

Under phase two of the February agreement, the North will receive an additional 950,000 tonnes of fuel oil in return for disabling its atomic facilities and coming clean on its nuclear secrets.

South Korean envoy Chun Yung-woo said the North seemed open to agreement.

''Yesterday North Korea demonstrated a practical and realistic approach, and if they stay that way that will help to set a specific action plan,'' he told reporters today.

The previous day, Chun had said the North could agree to an end-of-2007 deadline for the second phase, provided technical and energy concerns were settled.

But Japan's negotiator, Kenichiro Sasae, said he was not sure China would be able to issue a chairman's statement at the end of two days.

''It all hinges on how specifically North Korea will present its proposals and ideas about the implementation (of next-phase measures),'' Sasae told reporters.

REUTERS GT VV1138