DPRK to resume disablement of nuclear facilities

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-10-12 18:19

PYONGYANG -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will resume the disablement of nuclear facilities and permit the international inspectors to continue their works in Yongbyon, the official KCNA news quoted a foreign ministry spokesman as saying on Sunday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (2nd L) visits a military unit at an unidentified location in North Korea in this recent picture distributed by North Korea's official news agency KCNA on October 11, 2008. [Agencies]

The DPRK will cooperate on the "verification of objects of the disablement of nuclear facilities," as long as "the October 3 agreement will be fully implemented," the un-named spokesman said.

The DPRK welcomed the US decision of removing the DPRK from a terrorism-sponsoring states list, he said, adding that the two countries has come to an agreement on a "fair verification procedure in line with the phase of disablement" through a bilateral "in-depth" talks held in Pyongyang from October 1 to 3.

The spokesman hinted that Pyongyang's next step depends on whether the US delisting actually takes effect and the economic compensation is in place.

The DPRK agreed in February 2007 in talks with the United States, Japan, China, Russia and South Korea to disable the Yongbyon facilities in exchange for economic aid and political concessions, including removal from the terrorism list.

It began disabling its facilities in November and in June blew up a cooling tower in a display of its determination to carry out the process.

But the deal ran aground in late July when Washington delayed Pyongyang's removal from the terrorism list until the DPRK agreed to verification.

Pyongyang protested, saying verification was never part of the pact, and stopped disabling the plant in mid-August. On September 19, the DPRK announced it had begun the work to restore its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon.

After US nuclear envoy Christopher Hill's three-day visit to Pyongyang in early October, the Bush administration announced that it dropped the DPRK from the terrorism black list on Saturday.