By RIA Novosti
Tokyo : North Korea is ready to disable its nuclear facilities ahead of receiving aid pledged as part of international efforts to denuclearise the country, according to the South Korean Yonhap news agency.
“The North’s apparent concession removes a major hurdle to completing the denuclearisation process before the end of the year,” the news agency Wednesday quoted a South Korean representative as saying.
In line with a February deal reached with Japan, South Korea, the US, Russia, and China, North Korea will declare all its nuclear facilities, including those dealing with nuclear weapons production, and stop them in exchange for 950,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil.
The negotiator of the six-nation group on economic and energy cooperation said Pyongyang wanted the fuel for its thermal generation plants in equal deliveries of 50,000 tonnes a month, and also wanted equipment to modernise the plants.
The group is holding two-day talks at the South Korean village of Panmunjeom, near the border with the North. On Tuesday, North Korea announced it expected to receive consumer goods and investment as international aid in exchange for dismantling its nuclear programme, which caused international concern after the country held nuclear tests last October.
Pyongyang has shut down its key nuclear facilities in June and received 50,000 tonnes of heavy oil from South Korea as the first instalment of fuel aid.