The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will likely start disabling its nuclear facilities in the middle of October under a recently struck international deal, a news report said yesterday, as a team of US experts prepared for a second trip to the region.
The process to disable Pyongyang's nuclear facilities would take about 45 days, the Republic of Korea (ROK)'s Yonhap news agency said, citing unnamed officials.
Pyongyangpledged to disable its main nuclear facilities and declare all its programs by year's end in a disarmament accord reached last week with the United States, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan.
The DPRK's top nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-gwan said that his country wants to disable the Yongbyon nuclear complex "as quickly as possible," according to Jeong Se-hyun, a former South Korean unification minister who met Kim during a second summit between the leaders of two Koreas in Pyongyang last week.
The DPRK is also likely to agree to removing core parts from its nuclear facilities and placing them under the oversight of the International Atomic Energy Agency to meet the deadline, Yonhap said.
The report came as a US delegation, led by the US State Department's top Korea expert Sung Kim, prepares to depart tomorrow to the DPRK to create a plan for the future teams to begin the disablement of the Yongbyon reactor.
The team, which also includes technical experts from various departments of the US government, will put in place the roadmap for the disablement of Yongbyon facility at the end of the year, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters last week. Other teams would then go to the DPRK to disable the facilities, he said.
(China Daily 10/08/2007 page 6)
Questions:
1. According to the report, when will North Korea begin disarmament of its nuclear facilities?
2. What is the name of the DPRK's top nuclear negotiator?
3. Where is the site of North Korea's large nuclear reactor?
Answers:
1. Middle of October.
2. Kim Kye-gwan.
3. Yongbyon.
（英语点津 Linda 编辑）
About the broadcaster:
Marc Checkley is a freelance journalist and media producer from Auckland, New Zealand. Marc has had an eclectic career in the media/arts, most recently working as a radio journalist for NewstalkZB, New Zealand’s leading news radio network, as a feature writer for Travel Inc, New Nutrition Business (UK) and contributor for Mana Magazine and the Sunday Star Times. Marc is also a passionate arts educator and is involved in various media/theatre projects in his native New Zealand and Singapore where he is currently based. Marc joins the China Daily with support from the Asia New Zealand Foundation.
