North Korea 'willing to shut down nuclear reactor'
North Korea has told the United States it could shut down a key nuclear reactor and accept UN inspections if certain conditions are met, a news report said today.
The North has said it is willing to halt and close the 5-megawatt reactor in its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon and accept inspections by the UN nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency, the Hankook Ilbo reported from Washington, citing an unidentified State Department official.
The North's "conditions" include its long-standing call for Washington to lift financial restrictions for its alleged currency counterfeiting and money laundering and a demand for energy aid, the Korean-language paper said.
The communist regime stated that position via China, in the course of setting the date to resume six-party talks on its nuclear program, the paper said.
The nuclear talks, involving China, Japan, the two Koreas, Russia and the United States, are scheduled to reopen Monday for the first time since November last year.
"We have the minimum hope that North Korea will not come (to the nuclear talks) empty-handed," the US State Department official was quoted as saying.
