KKama67's Marvelous Things

BEIJING - North Korea agreed Tuesday after arduous talks to shut down its main nuclear reactor and eventually dismantle its atomic weapons program, just four months after the communist state shocked the world by testing a nuclear bomb.

The deal marks the first concrete plan for disarmament in more than three years of six-nation negotiations. The plan also could potentially herald a new era of cooperation in the region with the North's longtime foes — the United States and Japan — also agreeing to discuss normalizing relations.

The country has sidestepped previous agreements, allegedly running a uranium-based weapons program even as it froze a plutonium-based one — sparking the latest nuclear crisis in late 2002. There are believed to be countless mountainside tunnels in which to hide projects.

Under the deal, the North would receive initial aid equal to 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil for shutting down and sealing its main nuclear reactor and related facilities at Yongbyon, north of the capital, within 60 days, to be confirmed by international inspectors. For irreversibly disabling the reactor and declaring all nuclear programs, the North will eventually receive another 950,000 tons in aid. The total is worth $250 million. (this is ridiculous! we dont have enough for our country and now we are going to give them 50k tons of oil??)

One million tons of oil would be equivalent to more than two-thirds of North Korea's entire oil consumption in 2004, according figures in the CIA Factbook.

But Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in Tokyo that his country would not contribute aid to the North until the issue of the abductions of its citizens by North Korea is resolved. North Korea has admitted to abducting Japanese citizens, but not to Japan's satisfaction. (The abductions are pretty bad. I really doubt they will confess to all of them.)

Categories: north korea [t], United States [t], Japan [t], uranium [t], weapons [t], CIA [t], Shinzo Abe [t]