North Korea to shut down main nuclear reactor within 60 days

North Korea today agreed to shut down its main nuclear reactor within 60 days and eventually dismantle its atomic weapons programme.

Under the deal at talks with the US and four regional powers, the North will receive an initial 50,000 tonnes worth of aid in heavy fuel oil for shutting down and sealing its main nuclear reactor, to be confirmed by international inspectors, Chinese envoy Wu Dawei said.

The North will eventually receive another 950,000 tonnes in aid for irreversibly disabling the reactor.

If Pyongyang goes through with its promises, they would be the first moves the communist nation has made to scale back its atomic development after more that three years of six-nation negotiations marked by delays, deadlock and the North’s first nuclear test explosion in October.

Under the agreement, North Korea and United States will also embark on talks aimed at resolving disputes and restarting diplomatic relations, Wu said.

The Korean peninsula has remained in a state of war for more than a half-century since the Korean War ended in a 1953 ceasefire.