ANALYSTS DOUBTFUL
Many analysts are skeptical North Korea will ever fully abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs as it promised in a September 2005 six-party agreement.
However, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill told reporters he hoped by year-end to see Yongbyon disabled and to have a full declaration of its nuclear programs, including how much fissile material it has, as well as "a very clear situation on the uranium enrichment."
Hill, the chief U.S. negotiator with North Korea, briefed U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday.
The U.S. belief that North Korea has a uranium enrichment program sparked the latest nuclear crisis with Pyongyang in 2002. At the time, Washington said North Korean officials had acknowledged the program but Pyongyang has since denied it.
Hill, however, suggested that the two sides were making some headway.
"We have had, I think, some intensive and productive discussions on ... the issue of resolving our concerns about uranium enrichment," Hill told reporters in New York.
Mike Green, an analyst at the CSIS think tank who previously worked on the North Korea issue at the White House, said he suspected North Korea would take gradual steps toward disabling the facilities rather than doing it all at once.
"It's unlikely they will do one, large disablement step. It's more likely that they will salami slice it but the process could be well under way," he said.
Wendy Sherman, a senior negotiator with the North Koreans during the Clinton administration, said Washington's challenge was "getting North Korea to declare their nuclear programs in a way that creates confidence that we can verify in some fashion with technical means or direct visits."
