Talks seek to verify N. Korean report

BEIJING, July 10 (UPI) -- The six-party talks on North Korea's denuclearization, resuming in Beijing, will seek ways to verify the communist country's declaration of its nuclear assets.

The talks, set to open Thursday afternoon in the Chinese capital after an absence of nine months, come in the wake of North Korea's submission of its long-awaited disclosure of its nuclear programs in exchange for substantial aid from the other parties at the talks -- the United States, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea.

The verification will include the amount of weapons-grade plutonium North Korea has produced, Kyodo News reported.

"We're going to focus very much on a verification regime," chief U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill told reporters Thursday. "Everyone understands what the verification regime is."

Details of the North Korean report, submitted last month, have not been made public but it already has resulted in the United States agreeing to remove North Korea from its list of terrorism sponsoring countries and other steps.

The talks, set to last three days, also will deal with the next step in the process calling for North Korea to abandon its nuclear facilities and materials, the Japanese news agency said.

Separately, Yonhap reported South Korea will against ask Japan to join others in providing energy aid to North Korea.

South Korean negotiator Kim Sook said Thursday Japan's participation is needed to help conclude the second phase of the three-part process.