North Korea’s top nuclear envoy has urged for the swift implementation of the October third denuclearization agreement at the resumed six-party nuclear talks in Beijing.

A newspaper published by pro-Pyongyang ethnic Koreans residing in Japan reported that North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-kwan made the request on the first day of the meeting.

The Chosun Sinbo said that the focus of the current round of six-party nuclear talks is on the implementation of the October third agreement.

The newspaper voiced opposition to South Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator Kim Sook’s stance to link nuclear verification to the provision of economic aid to the North. It said that no six-way denuclearization agreements stipulate the verification of the North’s nuclear report as a precondition for economic compensation.

It also reported that Kim Kye-kwan was dissatisfied with Japan’s participation in the six-party nuclear talks.

Tokyo has refused to offer economic aid to Pyongyang in return for denuclearization until progress is made in the investigation into Japanese abductees by the North.

[Photo : ]