North Korea to close reactor
Updated on 14 July 2007
North Korea has told the United States it has shut down its Yongbyon nuclear facilities.
US state department spokesman Sean McCormack said that the US had been informed of the shut-down by North Korea and was now awaiting verification from the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA.
North Korea said last week it would consider suspending the operation of its nuclear facilities as soon as it received the first shipment of oil from South Korea under the February 13 aid-for-disarmament deal.
A South Korean tanker carrying 6,200 tonnes of fuel oil arrived early on Saturday at the port of Sonbong on North Korea's northeastern coast, the Unification Ministry in Seoul said.
"We welcome this development and look forward to the verification and monitoring of this shutdown by the International Atomic Energy Agency team that has arrived in North Korea," said McCormack.
He added that US negotiators looked forward to the next step of that February 13 agreement, in which North Korea "has committed to declaring all its nuclear programs and disabling all its existing nuclear facilities."
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