N.Korea plans to seal reactor in July: Russia's Ifax

Source: Reuters

N.Korea plans to seal reactor in July: Russia's Ifax

57 minutes ago

MOSCOW (Reuters) - North Korea plans to seal the Yongbyon
nuclear reactor in the second half of July, Russia's Interfax
news agency reported on Monday, citing an unidentified North
Korean diplomatic source.

"To stop the reactor it will take about a month according to
our specialists," the source said, Interfax reported.

"So we are counting on sealing it (the reactor) in the second
half of July, in accordance with the agreements reached at
the six-party talks," the source said. The story was written
from Beijing.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070618/wl_nm/korea_north_russia_dc

---

Source: Interfax

06:20 GMT, Jun 18, 2007

North Korea plans to seal nuclear reactor in second half of July -source

BEIJING. June 18 (Interfax) - North Korea will be able to freeze
and seal the Yongbyon nuclear rector in the second half of July
2007, a North Korean diplomatic source told Interfax on Monday.

"In the estimate of our experts, the reactor's technical freezing
will take about a month, so we hope to seal it, as required by
the agreements reached at the six-party talks, in the second
half of July 2007," the source said.


Link: http://www.interfax.com/3/283472/news.aspx

Source: Associated Press

US envoy: N. Korea process to begin soon

By AUDRA ANG, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 13 minutes ago

BEIJING - A stalled process to dismantle Pyongyang's nuclear
programs could resume within weeks now that a dispute about the
transfer of North Korean funds is over, U.S. nuclear envoy
Christopher Hill said Monday.

Meanwhile, Russia's Interfax-China news agency said the North plans
to shut down the Yongbyon nuclear reactor, its main processing
facility, in the second half of July.

The report, which cites an unnamed North Korean official in Beijing,
said the regime also proposes to hold the next round of six-nation
disarmament talks after that action is completed.

Hill, who arrived in Beijing Monday for talks with his Chinese
counterpart, said there was still a lot of work to do to get the
process back on track after it was stalled for months by a dispute
about $25 million in funds that were frozen in a Macau bank.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070618/ap_on_re_as/koreas_nuclear

They waited until the US released money in banks that the US had frozen. They demanded the money's release before agreeing to seal the nuclear plant.

Problem is, there is no condemnation, no outrage, not much of a reaction from Russia, the US, China, and S. Korea, as usual, all but demanded to get on its knees, mouth open, in front of Kim.

But the release of the money wasn't part of the deal. It was a side issue, with the agreement that N. Korea signed having nothing to do with the money, and with the country's leaders completely ignoring their commitments. And, more irritatingly, everybody has shown N. Korea--yet again--that if you give N. Korea stuff for doing what everybody else wants, and he inks a deal, he'll come back for more--and everybody will say, "Yes, here's my wife, my son if you want him. Whatever, Dear Supreme Leader."

(And yes, I'm tired and going around grumping at everything and everybody, otherwise I wouldn't have written this or posted it.)

The U.S. refuses to admit the $25M was part of the deal,
but the account seizure wrecked a previous agreement and
was undermining the current one. The two sides are working
in a climate of deep distrust and the U.S. was behind
schedule in keeping its promise.

The money does belong to North Korea and the the Treasury
Dept. can't prove that most of it is dirty. Going after North
Korea's bank account was counterproductive. Giving back
what was theirs all along is hardly an act of weakness.

At any rate, diplomacy with sons of bitches is nothing new.
If regime change is not an option, we need to engage the
North Koreans if only to stay close enough to see what
they are doing.

Source: Reuters

U.S. wants quick shutdown of North Korean reactor
Mon Jun 18, 2007 11:08PM EDT

SEOUL (Reuters) - The chief U.S. envoy in nuclear disarmament
talks with North Korea said on Tuesday he wanted U.N. officers
visiting the reclusive state next week to strike a quick deal
to shut its reactor and source of bomb-grade plutonium.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said it will
send a senior delegation next week to agree on details for a
return of its inspectors to monitor Pyongyang's promised nuclear
reactor shutdown.

"We want the IAEA to be able to quickly make an agreement and
get on with shutting down the reactor," U.S. Assistant Secretary
of State Christopher Hill told reporters in Seoul, where he was
meeting South Korean officials.

"A number of us would have liked to have seen things happen this
week, but they are going to happen on the week starting on
Monday instead."

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSSEO21460320070619

SAFELY shutdown a reactor!

Source: Associated Press


Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070619/ap_on_re_as/nkorea_missile

Source: Reuters

N.Korea puts atom monitors' return on hold over funds

By Mark Heinrich
31 minutes ago

VIENNA (Reuters) - A visit by U.N. nuclear monitors to North Korea
set for next week has been put on hold, a North Korean official said
on Thursday, clouding hopes Pyongyang would start shutting down
its atom bomb program soon.

Hours earlier the U.S. nuclear envoy began a surprise visit to North
Korea a few days after it hinted it would start carrying out nuclear
disarmament and allow a return of International Atomic Energy
Agency inspectors to verify this.

But the signs of movement in a long stalled process faltered when
North Korea's embassy in Vienna, headquarters of the IAEA, said
Pyongyang had not received any of $25 million released from frozen
North Korean funds.

-snip-

Hyon cited media reports that the funds had been forwarded by the
Federal Reserve Bank in New York to Russia's central bank a week
ago for relay into a North Korea account in Russia.

"But we have no idea where the money is," he said.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070621/wl_nm/korea_north_dc

Source: Reuters

North Korea ready to shut reactor: U.S. envoy
Fri Jun 22, 2007 5:11AM EDT

By Jon Herskovitz

SEOUL (Reuters) - The top U.S. nuclear envoy, just returned
from a rare visit to North Korea, said on Friday that Pyongyang
was ready to promptly disable its nuclear reactor and live up
to pledges it made in a February disarmament agreement.

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the highest-
ranking State Department official to visit the reclusive state in
nearly five years, said talks during his some-24-hour surprise
trip to Pyongyang were detailed and positive.

"The DPRK indicated that they are prepared, promptly, to shut
down the Yongbyon facility as called for in the February
agreement," Hill told a news conference in Seoul.

-snip-

However, a North Korean diplomat in Vienna has raised the
prospect of further delays to implementing the February 13
disarmament-for-aid deal, saying an impasse over North Korean
funds frozen in a Macau bank had still not been resolved.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSSEO21460320070622