Chinese language - N. Korea wants to delay reactor shutdown

WORLD / Asia-Pacific

N. Korea wants to delay reactor shutdown

(AP)
Updated: 2007-04-11 15:30

In this Korea Central News Agency photo released by Korea News Service in
Tokyo, Kim Yong Dae, vice president of North Korea's Supreme People's
Assembly, center, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, third from left, and
Anthony Principi, US President George W. Bush's former veteran affairs
secretary, third from right, pose with US and North Korean officials
during their meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea, Tuesday, April 10, 2007.
[AP]

PYONGYANG, North Korea - North Korea's key condition for halting nuclear
weapons development has been met now that frozen funds have been
released, but it wants to delay a weekend deadline for shutting down its
atomic reactor by a month, a US official said Wednesday.

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North Korea will invite back UN weapons inspectors as soon as it can
access the money from bank accounts in the Chinese territory of Macau and
will return to international talks on shutting its nuclear program "at an
early date," the official said.

However, North Korea wants to delay a Saturday deadline for switching off
its sole operating nuclear reactor by 30 days, the official said, adding
that any such change would require agreement from all countries involved
in arms talks with the North.

The six-party negotiations involve the United States, the two Koreas,
China, Japan and Russia.

The comments were made to a visiting US delegation, said the official
with knowledge of the discussions, who spoke on condition of anonymity
because of the sensitivity of the talks.

US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the main US envoy to
the North Korea nuclear talks, said he hoped that U.N. nuclear inspectors
would be able to travel to the North "in a matter of days."

"We see no reason why (North Korea) should hold up anything right now,"
Hill said in Seoul after meeting South Korean diplomats. "I don't want to
get into extending the deadline."

In a deal struck in February, North Korea pledged to shut down its
nuclear reactor in exchange for energy aid and political concessions,
while Washington agreed to resolve the financial issue in 30 days.
However, technical difficulties delayed the release of the money from
Macau's privately run Banco Delta Asia bank.

The US blacklisted the Macau bank in 2005 for its alleged complicity in
counterfeiting and money laundering by North Korea; BDA has denied any
wrongdoing. The move prompted the North to boycott the nuclear talks for
more than a year, during which it conducted its first-ever nuclear
weapons test in October.

"I think we have come to a very important juncture, which is we consider
this (Banco Delta Asia) matter to be really resolved," Hill said. "Now is
really an important time to get on with the ever-urgent task of
denuclearization."

Macau's Monetary Authority said Wednesday that the holders of $25 million
in North Korean accounts can now access the funds.

"The account holders, as long as they are authorized, can proceed to the
bank to withdraw or transfer the money," authority spokeswoman Wendy Au
said.

A US delegation that includes New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Victor Cha,

President Bush's top adviser on North Korea, and Anthony Principi, Bush's
former veteran affairs secretary, ended a four-day trip to Pyongyang on
Wednesday to recover remains of American servicemen killed in the 1950-53
Korean War.

The group made a rare crossing of the border dividing the Koreas around
midday Wednesday with six sets of remains.

North Korea also agreed to meet US envoy Hill soon to discuss
implementing the Feb. 13 agreement, the US official said, without giving
a time.

Hill is expected in Beijing on Thursday, and said he was open to a
meeting there with North Korea's main nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye Gwan.

If North Korea follows through with its promises, they would be the first
moves the county has made to scale back its nuclear development since it
expelled international inspectors and restarted its sole operating
nuclear reactor in 2003.

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