JUNE 26 MFA STATEMENT ON DPRK NUCLEAR DECLARATION

UNCLAS BEIJING 002528 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KS KN SUBJECT: JUNE 26 MFA STATEMENT ON DPRK NUCLEAR DECLARATION Summary -------------- ¶1. PRC Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei held a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on June 26, 2008 to announce that the DPRK "will submit" its nuclear declaration to the Chinese on June 26 and that the United States will "implement its obligations" to remove the designation of the DPRK as a state sponsor of terrorism and to terminate application of the Trading with the Enemy Act. END SUMMARY. Statement by the Chair of the Six-Party Talks -------------- ¶2. VFM Wu Dawei held a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at 5:00 p.m. on June 26, 2008. Wu, acting as "the head of the Chinese delegation to the Six-Party Talks," read a short statement and did not take any questions. ¶3. The text of Wu's statement is as follows: The Six-Party Talks has made positive progress in the second-phase actions for the implementation of the Joint Statement thanks to the concerted efforts of all Parties. In the spirit of the October 3, 2007 Six-Party agreement on June 26, 2008, the DPRK will submit its nuclear declaration to the Chair of the Six-Party Talks and the United States will implement its obligations to remove the designation of the DPRK as a state sponsor of terrorism and to terminate application of the Trading with the Enemy Act. The Parties agreed that the declaration will be subject to verification and there is agreement within the Parties on a set of principles to guide the establishment of a verification regime. The Parties agreed to establish a Monitoring Mechanism to cover all parties' obligations in the Six-Party Talks including nonproliferation and economic and energy assistance. The Parties reaffirmed the September 19, 2005 Joint Statement goal to realize the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. We believe that the above-mentioned developments will be conducive to implementing the second-phase actions in a comprehensive and balanced manner, and the final realization of the goals in the September 19, 2005 Joint Statement. RANDT