China welcomes the upcoming visit by the chief of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to North Korea and hopes
the trip will produce a positive outcome, China's top envoy to the
UN in Vienna said on Wednesday.
"We are confident that the Secretariat (led by Director-General
Mohamed ElBaradei) will play a constructive role in facilitating
the full implementation of the Joint Statement," Ambassador Tang
Guoqiang told a meeting of the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors,
referring to the agreement made at the six-party talks in
Beijing.
The latest round of six-party talks, involving China, the US,
North and South Korea, Russia and Japan, ended in Beijing on
February 13 with a joint statement on the first step toward the
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Under the agreement, North Korea will shut down and seal its
Yongbyon nuclear facility, including the reprocessing plant, and
will invite IAEA inspectors to return to the country to monitor and
verify its actions.
On the invitation of North Korea, ElBaradei will visit Pyongyang
on March 13 and 14 to work out the details of shutting down and
sealing the North Korea's nuclear facility, which includes the
production of plutonium, and redeploying inspectors by
mid-April.
"The current session of the Board of Governors is the first
convened against the backdrop of major progress achieved in the
six-party talks on the denuclearization of the Peninsula," said
Tang.
Tang said that as the holder of the presidency of the six-party
talks, China would continue to maintain close contact and
cooperation with all related parties and make active efforts to
achieve a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, and to maintain the peace
and stability of the Peninsula and Northeast Asia.
(Xinhua News Agency March 8, 2007)
