Washington: North Korea will be an early challenge for Barack Obama, with it trying to split its partners in the six-party talks on ending its nuclear drive, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley has said.
In an address at the Center for Strategic International Studies in Washington Wednesday. He said North Korea will test Obama, who will take office Jan 20, on a dispute over how to verify Pyongyang s nuclear information.
Without this verification agreement, there can be no progress, Hadley said, adding that some in the intelligence community have increasing concerns that North Korea has an ongoing covert uranium enrichment program.
Negotiators from six countries failed to achieve their goal of documenting ways to verify North Korea's nuclear programs last month after days of talks in Beijing, with envoys saying there were still significant gaps to be bridged.
Hadley, who is President George W Bush's top foreign policy adviser, said North Korea will test the new administration by once again trying to split the six parties.
When its efforts to do so fail, North Korea will need to accept a verification agreement so we can verify the disablement and then dismantlement of that country's nuclear capabilities, he said.
Under a key denuclearization-for-aid deal reached in 2007, North Korea is disabling facilities at its Yongbyon complex capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium.
In exchange for this and for submitting a list of its nuclear programs, North Korea has been promised energy aid equivalent to a total of 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil, the delivery of which has yet to be completed.
