DPRK set to resume nuclear disablement

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (or the DPRK) said Sunday it would resume disabling its main nuclear facilities, hours after the United States removed it from a list of states that Washington says sponsor terrorism.

The DPRK's Foreign Ministry said it would again allow inspections by the US and the International Atomic Energy Agency at its Yongbyon nuclear complex to verify the disablement process, pledged under a 2007 disarmament-for-aid deal reached at the Six-Party Talks.

"We welcome the US which has honored its commitment to delist (the DPRK) as 'a state sponsor of terrorism'," the ministry said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

The DPRK halted its nuclear disablement in mid-August in response to US delays in removing it from the terror list. The country has since taken steps toward reassembling its plutonium-producing facility and barred international inspectors from the site.

The US had said the DPRK first had to allow verification of the declaration of its nuclear programs it submitted in June before being removed from the blacklist. On Saturday, the US said the DPRK had agreed to all of Washington's inspection demands.

US officials said the DPRK agreed to allow atomic experts to take samples and conduct forensic tests at all of its declared nuclear facilities and undeclared sites on mutual consent.

US officials, however, said the DPRK could again be placed on the blacklist if it doesn't allow the inspections. The DPRK said Sunday that prospects for its disarmament depend on whether the US delisting actually takes effect and Pyongyang receives the remaining international aid under the 2007 deal.

Under the Six-Party agreement, which also involves the Republic of Korea, Russia, Japan and China, the DPRK agreed to abandon its nuclear programs in return for diplomatic concessions and the equivalent of 1 million tons of oil aid.

The delisting decision has been in the works since US nuclear envoy Christopher Hill traveled to Pyongyang and met senior officials earlier this month.

Chinese experts said the latest development reflects the Bush administration's strong wish to seek a final settlement of the issue before he steps down.

"The US administration has been working on this issue for years and doesn't want to see it remain unresolved when Bush leaves office early next year," Fan Jishe, a senior researcher on US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said.

Given these circumstances, removing Pyongyang from the terror blacklist was Washington's only choice, he said.

But Tao Wenzhao, a fellow researcher, warned against too much optimism. "We saw a similar situation in the autumn of 2005 when the historic Sept 19 joint statement on the settlement of the issue was declared by the six nations. But what followed was a 13-month stalemate," Tao said.

"A complete settlement of the issue rests on the normalization of relations between the United States and the DPRK."

He predicted that with the latest development, a new round of Six-Party Talks is likely to be held soon.