N. Korea Seeks Concessions From U.S.

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

N. Korea Seeks Concessions From U.S.

Sunday July 15, 2007 11:46 PM

By BURT HERMAN

Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea said Sunday it is
ready to permanently disable the nuclear reactor it just
turned off if the United States lifts economic sanctions
on the impoverished nation and strikes it from a list of
terrorism sponsors.

Kim Myong Gil, minister at the North's United Nations
mission in New York, said the country had shut down its
only operating nuclear reactor after the arrival of
promised fuel aid over the weekend. U.S. and South
Korean officials said they were confident the North had
halted operations at the Yongbyon reactor. Officials
from the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, the International
Atomic Energy Agency, said they could not confirm the
shutdown.

Kim said his government would only disclose the full extent
of the country's nuclear program and disable the reactor if
Washington takes actions “in parallel.”

“We will discuss about the economic sanctions lifting and
removing of the terrorism list. All those things should be
discussed and resolved,” Kim told The Associated Press by
telephone.

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