'N Korea now ready to close N-plants'
The Korea Herald/ Ann, Seoul
After weeks of stalemate over a financial dispute, North Korea is now ready to shut down its main nuclear facilities and accept UN nuclear inspectors, US officials who visited Pyongyang said Wednesday."Within a day after receiving the funds North Korea says it will invite the International Atomic Energy Agency to Pyongyang and inspectors to draw up the terms for shutting down the Yongbyon reactor," New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson said in a news conference in Seoul. But South Korean government officials advised against jumping to conclusions and said North Korea is yet to react to the latest decision by the Macau bank to unfreeze the US$25 million-worth of North Korean funds. "It remains to be seen what North Korea will choose to do," a high-ranking government official told The Korea Herald on condition of anonymity. By Thursday morning, the Macau authorities are expected to inform North Korea of its decision to lift its freeze on the 52 North Korean accounts, which will enable each holder to individually handle the money.
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