North Korea may resume disablement after deal

SOUTH KOREA: South Korea said on Sunday the U.S. decision to remove North Korea from a terrorism blacklist and salvage a faltering nuclear deal could lead Pyongyang to soon resume taking apart its plutonium-producing nuclear plant.

The North has longed to be delisted so it can better tap into international finance, see the lifting of many trade sanctions, and use global settlement banks to send money abroad instead of relying on cash-stuffed suitcases.

The decision was made after the North agreed to a series of verification steps of its nuclear plant, a State Department spokesman said in Washington on Saturday.

One hawkish Japanese minister called it regrettable because it left unresolved the fate of Japanese nationals kidnapped by the North.

South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy told a Sunday briefing in Seoul: “This government welcomes these moves as an opportunity that would lead to normalisation of the six-party talks and North Korea’s eventual abandonment of its nuclear programmes.”

Kim Sook said he believes the North “would be returning to disablement activities”, which could be implemented immediately.

Most of the steps, which were started in November, have been completed and were aimed at taking at least a year to reverse.

Last month North Korea lashed out at not being removed by backing away from a disarmament-for-aid deal it made with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States, and took initial steps to rebuild its plutonium-producing nuclear plant, which was being disabled under the pact’s terms. As part of the deal, North Korea would resume disablement of its nuclear facilities and allow in U.N. and U.S. inspectors who had been ordered out.

Under the deal, which still has to be formalised, experts would have access to all declared nuclear sites and “based on mutual consent” to sites not declared by the North, said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

In addition, the United Nations atomic watchdog body, the IAEA, would play an important role in verifying Pyongyang’s atomic activities and the United States could take out samples of nuclear materials to check.

Seoul, Sunday, Reuters