China has urged North Korea carry through with its offer to accept UN nuclear inspections in order to help resolve tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
The development follows the arrival in Beijing of U.S. envoy Bill Richardson, who was meeting with North Korean officials in Pyongyang on December 20 to discuss the country's nuclear program.
Richardson said North Korean officials had agreed to readmit UN nuclear inspectors and to negotiate the sale of nuclear fuel rods -- capable of producing bomb-making plutonium -- to a third country, possibly South Korea.
On December 21, Richardson said that North Korea also agreed to consider a military commission that would include officials from North and South Korea, along with the United States. The commission would try to prevent conflicts in disputed areas of the Yellow Sea.
compiled from agency reports
The development follows the arrival in Beijing of U.S. envoy Bill Richardson, who was meeting with North Korean officials in Pyongyang on December 20 to discuss the country's nuclear program.
Richardson said North Korean officials had agreed to readmit UN nuclear inspectors and to negotiate the sale of nuclear fuel rods -- capable of producing bomb-making plutonium -- to a third country, possibly South Korea.
On December 21, Richardson said that North Korea also agreed to consider a military commission that would include officials from North and South Korea, along with the United States. The commission would try to prevent conflicts in disputed areas of the Yellow Sea.
compiled from agency reports
