U.S. Wants Quick North Korean Action on Reactor

North Korea should move quickly to meet its obligation under a February agreement to close its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said today (see GSN, April 11).

Pyongyang has held off on shuttering the plant while it waited for access to $25 million in frozen funds held at the Banco Delta Asia in Macau.  That matter was seemingly resolved this week, Agence France-Presse reported.

The deadline for closure set under the Feb. 13 deal is Saturday.

“The ball’s in their court,” said Hill, Washington’s chief envoy to the six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program.  “If they don’t fulfill their obligations we’ll know very soon and we’ll have to deal with that accordingly.”

The facility is almost certain not to be fully closed by the deadline, a process which could take weeks, Hill indicated.

“The problem we have now is the North Koreans need to make a decision to invite the [International Atomic Energy Agency] in there and start shutting down this reactor and reprocessing facility,” he told CNN.  “We’ve got to get going on that and once we get going we can see how long it’s going to take.”

The reactor is believed to have produced between 50 and 60 kilograms of plutonium, which could be used in six to 12 weapons.  Closing the reactor is intended “to prevent that 50-60 kilo from becoming a 100-kilo problem,” Hill said.

North Korea sent 20 officials to Macau to retrieve the money, according to the South Korean Chosun Ilbo newspaper.

“The 52 North Korean bank accounts have recently been integrated for easy withdrawal, and it will take one or two days for North Korea to have the funds back since the sum is big,” a Macau bank official told the newspaper (Jun Kwanwoo, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, April 12).

The money dispute might not actually be resolved, China indicated today.

“We hope the issue of the bank funds can be properly resolved as soon as possible,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang.  “The legitimate and reasonable concerns and interests of all parties should be addressed so we can find a way to properly resolve the issue as soon as possible.”

Hill reaffirmed the U.S. belief that the matter is finished, Reuters reported.

“Their money is available, so this is no longer about BDA in my opinion,” he said.  “BDA is over” (Reuters/New York Times, April 12).

Even if the finance matter is resolved, North Korea should not be expected to rapidly move toward nuclear disarmament, experts told the Christian Science Monitor.

“Will North Korea continue to be obstreperous and hold out for payoffs every step of the way to denuclearization?  The answer is absolutely yes,” said Asia expert Ken Lieberthal of the University of Michigan.  “They are very astute at maximizing the benefits from a very weak position, so you can count on it.”

He criticized the Bush administration for killing off the Clinton-era Agreed Framework, which was intended to eliminate North Korea’s nuclear program by providing alternative energy sources.

“So what we are back to six years later is the Agreed Framework-minus,” he said.  “Instead of enough plutonium for one or two bombs, the North Koreans have now tested a weapon and probably have enough plutonium for eight to 10 more weapons” (LaFranchi/Kirk, Christian Science Monitor, April 12).

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