QUOTE
North Korea has begun reassembling its main nuclear facility, according to Japanese media reports on Wednesday, in an apparent reversal of steps taken as part of a disarmament agreement.
The reports by Japanese broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News Agency cited unidentified officials related to the six-party disarmament talks as saying the work on the Yongbyon nuclear reactor resumed on Tuesday.
The move by the North is the latest in the ongoing saga of its negotiations held with South Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan. The talks have lagged on for more than five years, and have been plagued by wrangling and numerous delays.
Last year, the North switched off the reactor at Yongbyon, some 100 kilometres north of the capital of Pyongyang, and began disabling the facility in November under the watch of U.S. experts. The facility's cooling tower was demolished in June.
But last week, North Korea said it had stopped disabling the nuclear reactor and threatened to restore the plutonium-producing facility, citing Washington's failure to remove it from the list of terror sponsors.
The reports by Japanese broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News Agency cited unidentified officials related to the six-party disarmament talks as saying the work on the Yongbyon nuclear reactor resumed on Tuesday.
The move by the North is the latest in the ongoing saga of its negotiations held with South Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan. The talks have lagged on for more than five years, and have been plagued by wrangling and numerous delays.
Last year, the North switched off the reactor at Yongbyon, some 100 kilometres north of the capital of Pyongyang, and began disabling the facility in November under the watch of U.S. experts. The facility's cooling tower was demolished in June.
But last week, North Korea said it had stopped disabling the nuclear reactor and threatened to restore the plutonium-producing facility, citing Washington's failure to remove it from the list of terror sponsors.
Full story:
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/09/03/north-korea.html
