North Korea plans to allow a US group to visit a nuclear complex to prove it is not bluffing about its progress toward making more atomic weapons, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper and source in Japan said yesterday.
The Jan. 6 to Jan.10 visit by a group that includes a nuclear scientist, congressional aides and a former diplomat comes as the US and its allies try to reopen talks with North Korea to end its nuclear programs.
The Tokyo-based People's Korea (Joson Sinbo) reported North Korea was expected to show the Yongbyon nuclear complex to the US, following through on an offer it had first made in October to US congressmen whose trip was later cancelled.
A diplomatic source close to North Korea said in Tokyo the Yongbyon visit was likely because Pyongyang wanted to "show how serious it is about nuclear development."
"It could be the last chance before North Korea decides whether to declare itself a nuclear state and negotiate with the United States," said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Earlier this week North Korea offered to freeze its nuclear arms program and stop nuclear power generation. The US, South Korea and Japan welcomed the step and said it suggested the North was preparing for talks.
The People's Korea report repeated what North Korea had said in October, when a bipartisan congressional delegation led by Curt Weldon, a Pennsylvania Republican, was to visit Pyongyang. The trip was scrapped due to opposition from the Bush administration.
"North Korea said it was prepared to let the delegation visit the nuclear facility in Yongbyon, as desired by the delegation, so that it might watch on the spot the completed reprocessing and the switchover made in the use of plutonium obtained," it said.
"The congressional trip was cancelled because of opposition from the White House, but this time the tour of the Yongbyon nuclear facility is likely to be realized for the nuclear experts," the newspaper added.
The US delegation is headed by John Wilson Lewis, a professor emeritus at Stanford University. He told reporters before departing Beijing for Pyongyang on Tuesday he did not know whether the group would visit Yongbyon.
Washington has kept the delegation at arm's length, saying efforts to get Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons must concentrate on six-way talks involving China, Japan, Russia, the two Koreas and the US. It is unclear when the talks will take place.
In Tokyo, Japan's Kyodo news agency said China was set to propose that the next round of talks accept a freeze of the North's nuclear arms program as a first step.
Quoting sources in Washington, Kyodo said the Chinese proposal would serve as a compromise by backing off from the harder stance of the US, which calls for the "complete, verifiable and irreversible" dismantling of Pyongyang's nuclear program.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
RSS