North Korean delegates at the Six Party Talks requested the right to verify whether or not the U.S. Armed Forces in Korea have nuclear weapons, when the six participating countries discussed the issue of verification of North Korean nuclear programs.
Radio Free Asia (RFA) on the 16th reported that the reason a joint statement could not be released was down to differences in opinions between the U.S. and North Korea on the verification of the U.S. Armed Forces nuclear capability in Korea, according to a quotation from Christopher Hill, recorded at a briefing to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives of the U.S.
Hill revealed that North Korea continues to focus an unwelcome attention on the IAEA’s participation in the verification activity and there are currently negotiations with the U.S. with North Korea in the process about which kind of measuring apparatus will be used and what specific facilities will be investigated, according to the RFA report.
It reported that, at the current time, the issue of access to North Korea’s nuclear waste storage facilities, by which the nuclear reprocessing situation can be clarified, has still not been agreed upon.
