North Korea says aid holds up disarmament deal

By Chris Buckley

BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korea appears committed to a nuclear disarmament deal but remains unwilling to complete two big steps until complaints over aid and U.S. concessions are solved, U.S. experts just back from North Korea said on Saturday.

Under disarmament terms announced in October last year, North Korea was offered 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil or equivalent aid, and the United States agreed to move to take the North from a sanctions list aimed at sponsors of terrorism.

In return, North Korea agreed to "disable" its Yongbyon nuclear facility and fully declare all nuclear activities by the end of 2007.

But those two steps have stalled after North Korean complaints that the energy aid and U.S. concessions were not coming soon enough.

North Korean officials appeared willing to proceed with disarmament steps, but only after their own demands were met, said Siegfried Hecker, a Stanford University researcher who went to the North with two other U.S. experts on a non-government trip.

"We found that significant hurdles actually remain before the DPRK will offer a complete declaration of its nuclear programme," Hecker told reporters after arriving in Beijing. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, DPRK, is the North's official name.

"We were told (by North Korean officials) the DPRK is looking forward to having these obligations met as quickly as possible so they can move to the next stage." said Hecker.

North Korea's complaints come during quickening regional diplomacy over the six-party nuclear talks to end Pyongyang's nuclear weapons ambitions. But negotiations are caught in bind over who makes the next concessions, and the U.S. experts' comments suggest that that bind remains serious.