North Korea says nuclear disarmament depends on US

North Korea said today that any future progress on its disarmament would depend on the US and Japan ending alleged hostile policies against the communist regime.

In a statement, the North’s Foreign Ministry said progress on disarmament would depend on “on what practical measures the US and Japan, in particular, will take to roll back their hostile policies toward” North Korea.

The ministry noted North Korea acted to shut down its nuclear reactor even before receiving the full 50,000 tons of oil promised for doing so, adding that was “a manifestation of its good faith towards the agreement,” according to the statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived on Saturday in the North to monitor the closure of the reactor at Yongbyon, just hours after a South Korean oil shipment sailed into a North Korean port. The North told the US late on Saturday that it has begun shutting down the reactor.

Still, North Korea emphasised that it did not view the oil as aid and said the UN inspectors’ activities were restricted in scope.

“The provision of substitute energy including heavy oil is by no means ’aid’ in the form of charity but compensation for the (North’s) suspension of its nuclear facilities and the activities of the IAEA in (Yongbyon) are not ’inspection’ but limited to verification and monitoring,” the ministry said.