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N Korea to shut down reactor

North Korea vowed yesterday to move forward with its pledge to shut down its nuclear reactor in exchange for aid, as UN monitors prepared to visit the country to discuss how to verify the long-delayed shutdown.

The North also announced yesterday that a dispute over funds frozen that had held up disarmament efforts was now over, and confirmed it would hold talks with officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) starting today.

How to verify that North Korea is taking its plutonium-producing Yongbyon reactor offline will dominate the agenda for the five-day IAEA visit, the agency's deputy director for safeguards said during a stopover in Beijing.

"Now we are going to go to negotiate the details: how to verify and make sure the reactors will be shut down at Yongbyon," Olli Heinonen told reporters upon arrival at Beijing's International Airport.

However, he said he was unsure whether he would have a chance to actually visit the Yongbyon site.

Still, the visit fueled optimism that Pyongyang was finally ready to move forward with its disarmament commitments.

North Korea, which expelled UN inspectors in late 2002, announced last week it had invited a "working-level delegation" to discuss procedures for shutting down the plutonium-producing facility.

North Korea had pledged in February to shut down the Yongbyon reactor, its main processing facility, and IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei traveled to North Korea in March in what was billed as a landmark visit.

But Pyongyang refused to act on the promise until it received about US$25 million in funds that were frozen in a Macau bank amid a dispute with the US over alleged money-laundering.

The North Korean Foreign Ministry said that disputed funds "have finally been transferred according to our demand," the official Korean Central News Agency reported.

The ministry also said it would start implementing the February disarmament accord, in which it promised to shut down its nuclear reactor in exchange for economic and political concessions.

US officials have been saying since earlier this month that the financial obstacle had been overcome, but North Korea's statement yesterday was the country's first confirmation that the money transfer was finished and that the matter was fully wrapped up.

The funds were freed earlier this year, but only last week started to be transferred to a North Korean account at a Russian bank. Russia said the disputed funds arrived on Saturday.

A statement posted on the Web site of Dalkombank, based in the Russian city of Khabarovsk, said the funds transfer had been completed yesterday.

The ministry also said it would start implementing a February disarmament accord, in which it promised to shut down its nuclear reactor in exchange for economic and political concessions.

Heinonen said before departing Europe that his delegation's trip was a "subsequent step forward" from ElBaradei's visit.

Heinonen's trip will come on the heels of a visit to North Korea by US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the top US nuclear negotiator with Pyongyang.
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