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North Korea to Disable Nuke Facilities This Year


BEIJING(AP) - North Korea has offered to fully declare all nuclear weapons programs and disable them by the end of the year, meeting U.S. hopes for quick moves following the shutdown of Pyongyang's sole operating reactor, South Korea's envoy said Wednesdays.

"North Korea expressed its intention to declare and disable (all its nuclear facilities) within the shortest possible period, even within fivve or six months, or by the end of the year," Chun Yung-woo said.

He said that North Korea negotiator Kim Kye-gwan also told South Korea that his nation is "willing to declare all its nuclear programs whthout omitting a single one."

The pledge for total discure is key because it implies the North will also include a mention of the uranium enrichment program that it has never publicly acknowledged.

The U.S. accused Pyongyang in 2002 of embarking on such a program in violation of an earlier disarmament deal sparking the latest nuclear crisis.


# The Korea Times [July 19, 2007]