N. Korea To Scale Back Nuclear Sites
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SEOUL — North Korea was expected to begin disabling its nuclear facilities today, marking the biggest step the communist country has ever taken to scale back its atomic program.
The North shut down its sole functioning nuclear reactor at Yongbyon in July, and promised to disable it by year’s end in exchange for energy aid and political concessions from other members of talks on its nuclear program: America, China, Japan, South Korea, and Russia.
Disabling the reactor at Yongbyon, north of Pyongyang, would mark a further breakthrough in efforts to convince the North to scale back its nuclear program. The country conducted its first-ever nuclear test in October of last year.
“By Monday morning, they will begin their work,” Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said in Tokyo on Saturday, referring to the American team that arrived in Pyongyang last week. “It’s a very big day because it’s the first time it’s actually going to start disabling its nuclear program.”
It was not clear as of late this evening whether the disabling process had begun. The team could not be reached in North Korea.
A South Korean nuclear envoy, Chun Yung-woo, said today that the American team will determine which specific disablement measures it will take first after considering technical issues and safety concerns.
Last week, Foreign Minister Song Min-soon of South Korea told reporters the team will carry out about 10 measures to disable the Yongbyon facilities.
Mr. Chun said he had not confirmed that the American team started the disabling work as scheduled.
Mr. Hill said America intends to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula while President Bush is still in power, and that North Korea — one of the world’s most isolated countries — appeared to be opening up.
“I’d like to see us get through this in the current U.S. administration,” Mr. Hill told a news conference in Tokyo. “We started this process, and I’d like to see us finish it.”
To disable the program, the facilities must be stripped sufficiently that it would take at least a year for North Korea to start them up again, Mr. Hill said.
