Australia invites N. Korea to send delegation after reactor shutdown

SYDNEY, June 18 Kyodo

Australia on Monday welcomed North Korea's agreement to accept U.N. inspectors to discuss a shutdown of its Yongbyon nuclear reactor and invited North Korea to send a delegation to discuss aid on offer once the reactor is shut down.

''Once North Korea implements its Feb. 13 commitments, we could again consider accepting an official North Korean delegation, which I have put on hold pending implementation,'' Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said in a statement.

He said the delegation from Pyongyang would be welcomed for discussions on ''bilateral development assistance and other steps forward in our relationship with North Korea.''

On Feb. 13, North Korea agreed at six-party talks to shut down and seal its Yongbyon nuclear reactor and allow entry of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors by April 14.

That breakthrough in the talks among the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan prompted Australia to send a delegation of senior officials to North Korea in mid-March to discuss implementation of the Feb. 13 agreement in return for aid.

North Korea was invited then to send a delegation of its own to Australia in the following month, but Canberra subsequently put the offer on hold after Pyongyang refused to implement its Feb. 13 commitments until a dispute with Washington over funds frozen at a Macao bank was resolved to its satisfaction.

Downer said Australian officials told North Korean diplomats earlier in the day that with dispute having been resolved, Pyongyang ''should now move immediately'' to implement its Feb. 13 commitments.

''Resolution of the issue means the time has now come for North Korea to demonstrate its sincerity, and Australia and the world will be watching its actions closely,'' he said.

''The generous assistance on offer by the other six-party talks participants should make it clear to North Korea that its best interests lie in abandoning its nuclear weapons program, and constructive engagement in the six-party talks, including in its various working groups.''

The Australian foreign minister also urged North Korea to move forward on the normalization of its relations with the United States and Japan, ''and in particular provide Japan with a full accounting of its citizens abducted by North Korea.''

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