Work to end North Korea's nuclear programme on track: Seoul

Five countries trying to end North Korea's nuclear weapons programmes have started working out the specific steps to dismantle Pyongyang's atomic programmes and the rewards to match completion, South Korea said on Wednesday.
Last week, the five parties - China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States - and North Korea reached an agreement where Pyongyang pledged to scrap its atomic weapons in exchange for security guarantees, economic aid and increased diplomatic recognition.
An action plan was needed to follow up on the pledges made in the accord, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said at a press briefing. The next round of the six-party talks is scheduled for November.
"We have launched preparations to set up specific steps and their sequence, focusing on nuclear dismantlement and corresponding measures," Ban told reporters.
"I look forward to related countries taking steps even before the next round of the talks in order to set a positive tone and to help accomplish an early resolution."
Experts said the agreement reached in Beijing on September 19 was simply the start of a long road ahead to ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programmes and it would likely see complications that strain ties among the other parties, in particular between Seoul and Washington.
A former top US non-proliferation official in the Clinton administration told a news briefing in Washington on Tuesday that North Korea may drag out the negotiations for years.
While the agreement in principle reached in Beijing was a positive step, "in the months ahead, I think they are going to face much tougher questions," including how to phase-in promised reciprocal actions, Robert Einhorn said.
Ban did not discuss in detail North Korea's demand, made a day after the agreement was reached, to have civilian reactors first before Pyongyang takes apart its nuclear programmes. Ban said co-operation with the United States had never been closer and last week's deal was the result of just that.
He said the six-party process must address the entire North Korean nuclear weapons programmes, whether or not Pyongyang is quick to disclose the full extent of its plans.
The top US envoy to the talks, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, was quoted as saying by the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo that, if North Korea refused to come forward with information on its suspected uranium-based weapons plans, the talks could again hit a snag.