Across Asia: Republic of Korea

Big 3 agree to speed up aid

The republic of Korea (ROK), the US and three regional partners have agreed to speed up their delivery of energy aid to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in exchange for its nuclear disarmament, an ROK official said yesterday.

The five countries - also including China, Japan and Russia - reached the agreement on Tuesday ahead of broader talks involving the DPRK at the Korean border village of Panmunjom that began yesterday, ROK negotiator Hwang Joon-kook said.