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Beijing, July 12 (Jiji Press)--Top envoys from six countries trying to dismantle North Korea's nuclear ambition ended their three- day talks here on Saturday by adopting a statement that features six- point agreements including the establishment of a mechanism to verify North Korea's declared nuclear programs. The six countries' experts will carry out the verification, and inspecting nuclear facilities, browsing relevant documents and interviewing North Korean engineers are main ingredients...

Text of report in English by Japan's largest news agency Kyodo Beijing, July 11 Kyodo - Chief nuclear negotiators from six countries agreed Friday in Beijing on the principles of creating a mechanism to verify North Korea's declaration of its nuclear programmes, Japanese delegate Akitaka Saiki said. But wide differences remain on the method of verification, South Korea's top envoy Kim Sook told reporters separately after the second day of the six-party heads of delegation talks in Beijing....

Negotiators meeting in Beijing on North Korea's denuclearization Friday focused on a mechanism to verify the North's disclosure of its nuclear programs. We will begin our talks today with the topic of verification and a monitoring system, which we were not able to complete yesterday, South Korean envoy Kim Sook told reporters at a Beijing hotel, Kyodo news service reported. The six-party talks among the United States, Russia, China, Japan and the two Koreas to end Pyongyang's nuclear...

Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap SEOUL, July 11 (Yonhap) - The shooting death of a South Korean tourist to a North Korean resort on Friday, the first such incident since the unprecedented tourism programme was launched nearly 10 years ago, is a tragedy that could have been foreseen, if not prevented, considering the danger in the area that was once home to the communist nation's submarine unit, officials said. The 50-year-old South Korean female was shot and...

Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap [By Yoo Cheong-mo: "Lee Proposes Full Resumption of Inter-Korean Dialogue"] SEOUL, July 11 (Yonhap) - President Lee Myung-bak [Ri Myo'ng- pak] on Friday [ 11 July] proposed that South and North Korea immediately resume dialogue across the board for discussions on the denuclearization of North Korea, implementation of the existing inter-Korean summit agreements and cross-border humanitarian cooperation. In an address to the...

Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap SAPPORO, Japan, July 8 (Yonhap) - South Korean President Lee Myung-bak [Yi Myo'ng-pak] urged North Korea to be more transparent about its nuclear weapons programme and settle the issue of the North's abductions of South Korean and Japanese civilians if it truly wants to join the international community, the Tokyo Shimbun reported Tuesday. In an interview with the Japanese newspaper, held in Seoul on Monday, Lee forecast that...

Text of report in English by Japan's largest news agency Kyodo [By Miya Tanaka] Toyako, Japan, July 6 Kyodo - Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is expected to seek cooperation from US President George W. Bush in dealing with North Korea and climate change issues as they began a bilateral meeting Sunday afternoon ahead of the Group of Eight summit in Japan's northern island of Hokkaido. Fukuda arrived in the Lake Toya resort area earlier in the day, hoping to demonstrate his leadership...

International aid workers began visiting North Korea Monday after they were given access to the country's remote areas, the U.N. food agency said. The brigade included a U.S. freighter of humanitarian aid, The New York Times reported. In addition, the country extended invitations to 50 international relief experts from the United Nation's World Food Program and a consortium of U.S relief agencies after progress was made in ending the country's nuclear program. North Korea's openness comes...

Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap [Yonhap original headline: "Seoul Offers Corn Aid to Pyongyang"] SEOUL, June 30 (Yonhap) - South Korea on Monday offered 50,000 tons of corn aid to North Korea after the famine-stricken country failed to reply to Seoul's proposed assistance. "We will provide 50,000 tons of corn if North Korea give details as to when, where and how it wants to receive the aid," Kim Ho- nyoun, spokesman for the Unification Ministry, told reporters....

By Matthew Lee Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea -- Beef bested bombs. America's chief diplomat found herself vouching for the purity of U.S. cattle Saturday, wading into a bitter trade dispute that for South Koreans has eclipsed the long-running drama over North Korea's nuclear activity and threatened the government of President Lee Myung-bak. Just one day after the communist North demolished the most visible symbol of its nuclear programs, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice faced a...