A senior North Korean official says his country is beginning to restore a disabled nuclear facility capable of producing weapons material. Pyongyang says the United States has not fulfilled obligations under a multinational agreement to get rid of the North's nuclear weapons.
北韩一位高级官员说，北韩正在开始修复一座被拆除的能够生产武器级核材料的核设施。平壤说，美国没有兑现为去除北韩核武器达成的一项多边协议中的承诺。
North Korean diplomat Hyun Hak Bong announced his country's intentions Friday following a meeting with a South Korean counterpart in North-South border village of Panmunjeom.
北韩外交官玄学锋星期五在南北韩边界的板门店跟韩国外交官举行会谈后宣布了北韩的意图。
Hyun says the process of disabling North Korea's main nuclear facility has been stopped, and the process of restoring it is now ongoing.
他说，拆除北韩主要核设施的工作已经停止，目前正在进行重建修复工作。
North Korea agreed last year to fully disable its nuclear facility at Yongbyon as part of a broader multinational deal aimed at ending its nuclear programs altogether. In a separate phase of the deal, North Korea provided a nuclear declaration to its negotiating partners - South Korea, China, Russia, Japan, and the United States.
作为彻底结束北韩核项目而达成的一项多边协议的一部分，北韩去年同意全面拆除宁边核反应堆。北韩另外还向韩国、中国、俄罗斯、日本和美国提交了一份核清单。
The six-nation process hit a wall in August, when the United States decided not to remove North Korea from a State Department list it accuses of sponsoring terrorism. Washington says its promise to do that was contingent on North Korea committing to steps for proving that its nuclear declaration is accurate.
当美国8月份决定不把北韩从支持恐怖主义的国家名单上拿掉时，六方会谈陷入僵局。华盛顿说，美国是否兑现承诺将取决于北韩是否致力于提交一份准确的核清单。
Hyun, the North's envoy, disagrees.
北韩特使玄学锋不赞同美国的立场。
Hyun says the verification issue is a separate issue from Pyongyang's removal from the terrorism list. He accuses the United States of imposing a one-sided condition that is not part of the agreement.
他说，可核查问题与把平壤从支持恐怖主义国家名单上拿掉是两回事。他指控美国单方面设立不在协议之内的条件。
South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan, speaking Friday to journalists in Seoul, agreed with U.S. officials that verifying North Korea's declaration was always part of the deal.
韩国外交通商部长官柳明桓星期五在首尔对记者说，他同意美国官员的说法，那就是核查北韩提交的核清单一直是协议条款的一部分。
Yu says all parties in the six nation talks understood that the North Korean declaration and its verification were intertwined. He says removing Pyongyang from terrorism list does not necessarily require the verification process to be completed - just that North Korea agree on the principles for carrying it out. North Korea, says Yu, fully understands that.
柳明桓说，参加六方会谈的各方都理解，北韩的核清单跟核清单的可核查性是相互联系的。他说，把北韩从支持恐怖主义国家名单上拿掉并不要求核查工作的完成，正如北韩原则上同意完成这项工作一样。柳明桓说，北韩完全了解这一点。
Yu suggested the North may be threatening the restoration of its Yongbyon facility as a means of gaining diplomatic leverage.
柳明桓表示，北韩发出修复宁边核设施的威胁，也许是获取外交筹码的一种手段。
North Korea demolished the facility's cooling tower earlier this year in a carefully choreographed public demonstration it was disabling Yongbyon. Analysts say it would take months - possibly years - to fully resume the reactor's operations.
北韩今年早些时候以精心策划的宣传形式摧毁了被拆除的宁边核反应堆的冷却塔，显示它正在拆除其核设施。分析人士说，北韩可能要用几个月，甚至也许几年的时间才能完全恢复宁边核反应堆的运作。 |