N Korea ready to shut down nuke reactor
North Korea is ready to quickly shut down its nuclear reactor as soon as it receives funds that had been frozen in a banking dispute, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.
"The shutdown is something that can be done immediately and it won't take long," Ri Kyong Son, vice spokesman at the ministry, told APTN in an interview in Pyongyang.
North Korea missed an April deadline to close the Yongbyon nuclear reactor under a February agreement with the United States and four neighbouring countries, but has said its commitment to the deal remains unchanged.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The North's key precondition to move on disarmament is the release of some $25 million frozen after Washington blacklisted a Macau bank where the North Korean regime held accounts. Washington helped unfreeze the funds to win the North's promise to start dismantling its nuclear weapons programmes, but technical issues have stalled the transfer.