China calls for a comprehensive and balanced implementation of
the initial actions agreed at the six-party talks in February over
the denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, Chinese ambassador to
the United Nations' Vienna Office said on Monday.
At the six-party talks on February 13 involving China, Japan,
Russia, South and North Korea, and the US, Pyongyang pledged to
shut down the Yongbyon reactor within 60 days in exchange for
50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil or equivalent aid.
The initial actions on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue fully
reflect the political will of all parties involved -- an early
realization of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula in a peaceful way,
Tang Guoqiang told a special session of the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA).
The initial actions play an important role in pushing the
nuclear-free process forward, helping the normalization of the
relationship between some countries, and safeguarding the peace and
stability in northeast Asia, Tang said.
Tang said China appreciates the efforts made by the IAEA in
achieving a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and welcomes an agreement
for the nuclear verification and monitor between IAEA and North
Korea.
The agreement was signed later last month by North Korea and a
then visiting IAEA delegation to verify and monitor the shutdown of
the nuclear facilities in Yongbyon.
China expects the IAEA to contribute to the implementation of
the initial actions and play a constructive role in solving the
nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, the ambassador said.
China encourages the international community to pay more concern
and support the process of six-party talks in order to further the
process of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.
North Korea on Friday said it will suspend the operation of its
nuclear facilities as soon as the aid it has been promised
arrives.
South Korea said that it will start sending the first shipment
of heavy fuel oil to North Korea on Thursday in accordance with the
February 13 agreement designed to solve the nuclear standoff on the
Korean Peninsula.
(Xinhua News Agency July 10, 2007)
