Six-party Talks - Timeline - 5th Round - 3rd Phase (8 Feb – 13 Feb 2007)

3rd Phase (8 Feb – 13 Feb 2007)

Representatives
South Korea: Chun Yung-woo, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
North Korea: Kim Kye-gwan, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs
United States: Christopher Hill, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
People's Republic of China: Wu Dawei, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs
Japan: Sasae Kenichiro, Deputy Director-General of Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau
Russia: Alexander Losyukov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

Objectives achieved

• Joint Statement issued on Tuesday 13 February 2007, 3pm
  • North Korea will shut down and seal the Yongbyon nuclear facility, including the reprocessing facility and invite back IAEA personnel to conduct all necessary monitoring and verifications
  • In return, the other five parties in the six-party talks will provide emergency energy assistance to North Korea in the initial phase of 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil, to commence within 60 days.
  • All six parties agree to take positive steps to increase mutual trust, and make joint efforts for lasting peace and stability in Northeast Asia. Directly related parties will negotiate a permanent peace regime on the Korean Peninsula at an appropriate separate forum.
  • All six parties agree on establishing five working groups - on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, normalization of North Korea-U.S. relations, normalization of North Korea-Japan relations, economy and energy cooperation, as well as a joint Northeast Asia peace and security mechanism.
  • The working groups will form specific plans for implementing the September 19 statement in their respective areas.
  • All parties agree that all working groups will meet within the next 30 days
• Details of assistance will be determined through consultations and appropriate assessments in the working group on economic and energy cooperation.
• Once the initial actions are implemented, the six parties will promptly hold a ministerial meeting to confirm implementation of the joint document and explore ways and means for promoting security cooperation in Northeast Asia.
  • The sixth round of six-party talks will take place on March 19, 2007. This will be to hear reports of the working groups and discuss actions for the next phase.

Events during the 5th round, 3rd phase of talks

• China drew up a plan that was presented on Friday, 9 February 2007, building on the September 2005 agreement. It proposes that the Yongbyon 5MW(e) nuclear reactor be "suspended, shut down and sealed" within two months in exchange for energy supplies and economic aid by the other five countries to North Korea. It also proposed to establish "four to six" working groups on each of the outstanding issues not agreed on. Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Aso was reported to applaud the draft, hailing it as a breakthrough. However, Japanese chief representative Sasae Kenichiro and U.S. chief representative Christopher Hill were much more cautious, saying it was just a first step in a long process, but at least there was agreement by all parties on the fundamental points. North Korean chief representative Kim Kye-gwan said North Korea was "prepared to discuss initial denuclearization steps" but was "neither optimistic nor pessimistic because there are still a lot of problems to be resolved"
• China held one-on-one talks with each of the other five countries on Sunday 11 February 2007. The six countries' chief negotiators then had an hour-long meeting together in the afternoon. They did not announce any end date for this phase of talks after the meeting.
• China's plan has run into some difficulties regarding the steps North Korea will take to denuclearize in exchange for aid. The Japanese chief representative claimed North Korea was demanding too much compensation in return for denuclearization. South Korea's chief representative Chun Yung-woo said it was "unreasonable" to expect a breakthrough on Sunday 11 February 2007. Russia's chief representative Losyukov said that the chances of reaching a two-page joint statement are slim, and if this does not work out, a Chairman's Statement will be issued.
• On February 13, 2007, Christopher Hill announced that a tentative deal had been reached between the negotiators, and a "final text" was being circulated to the governments of the six parties for approval. Even before the deal had been approved, it was criticized by John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who said that it sent "exactly the wrong signal to would-be proliferators around the world".
• The Chairman's Statement adopted on February 13, 2007 was the result of 16 hours of grueling negotiations, finalized only at 2 a.m. on February 13, 2007. This was circulated to all six parties, and agreed on at around 3 p.m. that same day.