North Korea: Yongbyon reactor shut down

For once the peace process seems to be unfolding without too many hitches. I was always very skeptical of the whole deal and not surprised by the earlier glitches but at present it would seem that both sides are keeping their part of the deal. We will just have to wait and see how much further both sides will be able to go without snarling at each other and accusing each other of bad faith.

N. Korea tells U.S. Yongbyon nuclear reactor now shut down
Last Updated: Saturday, July 14, 2007 | 5:07 PM ET
The Associated Press
North Korea told the United States it shut down its nuclear reactor, the U.S. State Department said Saturday, hours after a ship arrived in the port of Sonbong loaded with oil promised in return for the country's pledge to disarm.

If confirmed by a UN inspection team headed to the Yongbyon reactor, the shutdown would be the North's first step in nearly five years toward de-nuclearization.

This satellite image provided by Space Imaging Asia shows the Yongbyon nuclear centre, located north of Pyongyang, North Korea, in 2002.
(Space Imaging Asia/Associated Press) "We welcome this development and look forward to the verification and monitoring of this shutdown by the International Atomic Energy Agency team," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement.

After tortuous negotiations and delays, during which the North argued its nuclear program was needed for self-defence, the reclusive regime said earlier this month that once it received the oil shipment, it would consider halting its reactor.

The 10-member IAEA team arrived in the North Korean capital Saturday afternoon. Team chief Adel Tolba said the inspectors would stay in North Korea as long as needed to complete their work at the Yongbyon plutonium-producing reactor, located about 95 kilometres northeast of Pyongyang.

"We are going directly to the nuclear site at Yongbyon," Tolba told broadcaster APTN outside the airport.

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Footage showed dozens of cardboard boxes being loaded onto the back of two trucks. It was not immediately clear what they contained, but Tolba earlier said he and his colleagues were bringing nearly a tonne of equipment for use during the trip.

North Korea did not give a timetable for the shutdown, but top U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill said earlier it would happen within days.

"I think it's a matter of today, tomorrow, maybe Monday," Hill told reporters Saturday in the Japanese resort town of Hakone, south of Tokyo.

Hill also said he expected the North to submit a list of its nuclear facilities within months, as was agreed upon in a February disarmament deal.

"We expect the comprehensive list in a matter of several weeks, possibly several months," Hill said. However, he warned that the process was not likely to go smoothly.

"I wish I could say we won't have any more problems, but experience tells me otherwise," Hill said.

After the IAEA team installs monitoring equipment, some experts will remain at Yongbyon to ensure the reactor stays shuttered, said a diplomat familiar with North Korea's file at the IAEA.

"The IAEA plans to have a permanent presence there, with some experts remaining at the site continuously," said the diplomat, who requested anonymity due to the issue's sensitivity.

Saturday's delivery of 5,600 tonnes of heavy fuel oil was the first of 45,000 tonnes promised to the North in exchange for shutting down its reactor. Pyongyang will eventually get 907,000 tonnes (one million tons) of
oil and other financial and political concessions in the deal with the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia.

The South Korean tanker No. 9 Han Chang arrived at the North's northeastern port of Sonbong, and the oil was being unloaded, a Unification Ministry official in the South said.

The six-party agreement eased a standoff that began in October 2002, when the U.S. said North Korean officials had admitted having a secret uranium enrichment program. Washington said that violated a 1994 agreement for the North's disarmament, and a month later halted oil shipments under that deal.

The North reacted by expelling IAEA monitors, withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and restarting the reactor.

North Korea has since occasionally shut down the reactor to remove fuel rods and extract plutonium. It is believed to have harvested enough for at least a dozen bombs.

The government set off an underground nuclear test explosion in October, leading to intensified international efforts to negotiate an end to its arms program. The North was likely to term the shutdown simply a suspension of operations, which could be easily reversed.