Christopher Hill, the chief U.S. negotiator at international talks on North Korea's nuclear programs, talks to reporters with his Japanese counterpart Kenichiro Sasae, unseen, after their meeting at Foreign Ministry in Tokyo, Saturday, June 23, 2007. The United States expects North Korea to shut down its plutonium-producing reactor within three weeks, Hill, the top U.S. nuclear envoy said Saturday, after returning from a rare visit to the reclusive state.
Photo: AP
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North Korea to Close Down Nuclear Reactor
North Korea agreed to close down the nuclear reactor in Yonben, where weapon-grade plutonium is produced, said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, who had recently met with North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun in Pyongyang.
Pyongyang agreed to close down the nuclear reactor in Yonben, where weapon-grade plutonium is produced. It was announced by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, who had recently met with North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun in Pyongyang. The plan, according to which North Korea is to give up its nuclear programs, was coordinated in February 2007 at another round of the six-sided talks.
In exchange for stopping the Yonben reactor, energy aid and normalizing relations with the U.S. was offered to North Korea. Pyongyang demanded back its $25 million, frozen in China’s Delta Asia bank in Macau under U.S. pressure. The sum was returned to North Korean accounts on Friday. Already next week, IAEA inspectors will arrive to North Korea. The six-sided talks are expected to gather in early July, to settle the last uncoordinated details.
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