North Korea is willing irreversibly to shut down its nuclear plants as part of a six-nation deal, a senior South Korean official said on Monday.The communist’s state chief nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-Gwan has reaffirmed that disabling the plants would be an “irreversible process,” the official told reporters on condition of anonymity. Kim was speaking during a meeting with his South Korean counterpart Chun Yung-Woo in New York on Saturday, said the official, quoted by Yonhap news agency. The South’s lead negotiator Chun said after meeting Kim on Saturday that the North appears strongly committed to the first steps of the agreement. Under those steps the North must shut down and seal its Yongbyon nuclear complex and admit international inspectors by mid-April. Disabling would be the next phase.
Suspicions arose after Pyongyang’s official media said the six-party agreement requires it to “temporarily suspend” its facilities. “Kim said his country only used the expression ‘temporary suspension’ because the facilities can be restarted at any time until they are completely disabled,” the Seoul official said.