The Militant - July 28, 2008 -- North Korea to dismantle reactor by end of October

Vol. 72/No. 30 July 28, 2008

North Korea to dismantle
reactor by end of October

BY BEN JOYCE
The government of North Korea took further steps toward ending its nuclear energy program, agreeing July 12 that it would disable its main Yongbyon facility reactor by the end of October and allow international inspectors to verify the process.

Representatives of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), South Korea, Japan, China, Russia, and the United States came to the agreement after three days of talks in Beijing. In what the Washington Post calls an “intrusive inspection program,” the agreement provides for inspectors from the six nations to visit North Korean nuclear facilities and review documents, as well as call on the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency to help in the verification process.

In previous negotiations that took place in February 2007, the governments of the United States, China, Russia, and South Korea agreed to provide the DPRK with 1 million tons of oil in exchange for the dismantling of its nuclear facilities. But they delivered only 40 percent of the oil, the DPRK says. The United States and Russia now say they will provide the remaining fuel before the October deadline.

The latest agreement comes after North Korea released information about its main nuclear reactor facility and demonstratively demolished the main cooling tower at the Yongbyon plutonium-producing facility in June.

Washington will remove some sanctions against North Korea as part of the agreement, but the DPRK will continue to face severe trade restrictions.

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