Talks On NKorea Disarmament Focus On Verification

BEIJING  — Six-nation talks with North Korea are continuing Friday, as the communist regime maintains that it hasn’t gotten most of the energy assistance it was promised in exchange for disabling its nuclear weapons program.

Energy-starved North Korea was promised fuel aid equivalent to a million tons of oil under a February 2007 disarmament deal, but says it’s only gotten 40 percent of the promised shipments.

One thing the sides have agreed to do is establish a verification and monitoring mechanism for Pyongyang’s nuclear facilities. That process will likely include site visits, interviews with North Korean officials and examination of documents. A U.S. official says actually verifying everything could take several months.