The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Seoul

The two Koreas and China will meet in North Korea this week to discuss providing energy aid to the communist nation under a six-nation nuclear disarmament deal, officials said. The three-day trilateral meeting opens in Pyongyang on Tuesday in a follow-up to the first round held in Shenyang last month, the South's foreign ministry said in a statement. Talks will focus on how to provide non-fuel aid, such as energy-related facilities and equipment, it said. In February, North Korea agreed to disable its plutonium- producing plants and declare all nuclear programmes by year's end in exchange for a million tonnes of fuel oil or equivalent energy aid.

Seoul, which has led the working group on energy aid to North Korea, says the promised reward would be half in fuel oil and half in alternative forms. The announcement on aid talks followed news reports that the nuclear disarmament process had hit a snag with the North refusing to address its suspected highly enriched uranium weapons programme to US satisfaction. The Washington Post said Friday that minute traces of enriched uranium had been found on aluminium tubing from North Korea, alleging this appeared to hint at a secret nuclear programme.