Orchestra underscores nuclear dance between U.S., North Korea

North Korea has been in the spotlight this week after the New York Philharmonic played in Pyongyang and journalists toured one of its nuclear sites. CNN's Christiane Amanpour tells what happened when she sat down with North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator.

PYONGYANG, North Korea (CNN) -- After the New York Philharmonic's triumphant debut in Pyongyang, I was invited for a cup of tea and conversation with North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator.

Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan told me the orchestra's visit "has been very successful art-diplomacy between the two nations."

He went on to say it has "contributed to good understanding between our two nations. Actually improving relations is not all in the hands of governments."

"It is very important that understanding between nations be accompanied" by these kinds of contacts, he said.

Kim invited me for an exclusive off-camera visit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after North Korea had taken the unprecedented step of broadcasting the Philharmonic's performance live to the nation. Watch Kim welcome Amanpour »

It had started with both countries' national anthems.

"It's quite sensitive to televise the performance of the U.S. national anthem. We are technically in a state of war, so actually it was a political breakthrough. It needs great political courage," he said as he laughed, adding, "Courage of both nations."

The day before the Philharmonic's concert, North Korea had allowed me and my CNN team on a rare tour of its Yongbyon nuclear facility. We saw U.S. technicians monitoring and helping at the plant, which has been shut down since summer.

We also saw vital parts of the reactor disabled, such as the reprocessing plant that produces the highly potent plutonium used in nuclear weapons.

North Korea says the plant is 90 percent disabled, but the disarmament process has hit a stumbling block over whether North Korea has fully accounted for all its nuclear facilities. So I asked Kim about the sensitive nuclear diplomacy between the United States and North Korea and four other nations involved in the six-party talks.

"I really do not like to discuss our process as a stalemate," he said. "In reality it is not at a stalemate. We are in the process of implementing our agreement, but I admit the speed of implementing the agreement is being slowed down."

Indeed, at Yongbyon, the chief engineers showed us the process and told us they are now removing 30 of the vital nuclear fuel rods from the plant per day, where as at full speed they could remove 80 rods per day.

There are some 6,400 rods still to be removed and that could take most of the year. Kim said, "We are strictly abiding by action for action process. That's why we are deliberately slowing down the speed."

By that, North Korea means it has complaints over aid and U.S. political concessions. Kim said that as North Korea disables the Yongbyon facility, the United States and other nations have to offset the country's dire energy shortages and needs "by providing 1 million metric tons of fuel oil."

He added that the United States "is to take political steps, including two steps showing the U.S. is no longer hostile to the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea]." Those include removing North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism and lifting sanctions. He also reconfirmed North Korea's desire to be provided with "light water reactors" for their energy needs.

Kim also denied North Korea has ever had uranium enrichment activities and said North Korea is not cooperating with any other countries on nuclear technology.

I asked him about the story I exclusively confirmed in September that Israel had bombed a facility in Syria. Israel and some U.S. officials believe it could have been a nuclear facility, being built by North Korea.

At the foreign ministry in Pyongyang, Kim said, "We do have transactions in conventional arms, especially in missile areas with Syria. But the assertion of so-called nuclear cooperation with Syria is groundless."

Relaxed and welcoming after the successful visit of the New York Philharmonic, Kim spoke to us for nearly an hour. As we left, he again reiterated that "we are doing our best, we are working very hard, we are very active in trying to resume the next round of talks" in the nuclear disarmament process.

He bid us farewell on a musical note, saying he had watched the Philharmonic's "wonderful" performance on television.

"I learned and confirmed again that music can be communicated between people without interpreters." E-mail to a friend

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