The shutdown of a major nuclear reactor by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will pave the way for "finally implementing the February 13 agreement of this year," a senior White House official said on Sunday.
"It appears that the facility is shut down and we are finally implementing the February 13 agreement of this year," U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley told Fox News.
The comments came a day after Washington said it had been informed by Pyongyang that nuclear facilities at Yongbyon had been closed.
"It means they will no longer be able to produce the plutonium for those nuclear weapons made out of plutonium," Hadley said.
The aim was "ultimately dismantling that program, getting a full accounting of what they've been doing with any covert enrichment program and finally getting them to turn over any nuclear materials from which nuclear weapons have or could be made," the official said.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill, who is visiting Northeast Asia, also described Pyongyang's move as "a good first step."
Hill said he would meet Tuesday with top DPRK nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-Gwan, a day before six-party talks resume in Beijing.
The Yongbyon reactor is situated at some 90 km north of Pyongyang.
Source: Xinhua
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