UN confirms North Korea nuclear shutdown

BEIJING/KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 (Reuters) The UN nuclear watchdog today said that North Korea had shut down its nuclear reactor and four related facilities, a major step in efforts to get it to give up its nuclear weapons programmes.

The announcement came as negotiators at six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons programme sat down to a first day of talks in Beijing where the United States held out hope of agreeing to a disarmament schedule over the next two days.

''Yes, we now verify that all the five nuclear facilities have been shut down,'' Mohamed ElBaradei, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told reporters in the Malaysian capital, referring to the Yongbyon reactor complex.

The reactor produces material that can be turned into weapons-grade plutonium and in February North Korea agreed to close it in return for 50,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil, which began moving there from South Korea last week.

''The team applied the necessary seals and other measures as appropriate,'' the IAEA said in a statement in Vienna. ''The installation of the necessary surveillance and monitoring equipment by the IAEA team is expected to be completed in the next few weeks.'' North and South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia will now start to explore how to permanently scrap Yongbyon.

''I have the impression that North Korea is ready to fully discuss next-phase steps after taking the first-phase step,'' Japan's chief delegate, Kenichiro Sasae, told reporters after today's session.

He said each country laid out its views on first- and second-phase measures, which would include North Korea's full declaration of its nuclear activities and disabling of nuclear facilities.

''The talks will continue tomorrow. We have just started,'' Sasae said.

US envoy Christopher Hill earlier said there was much work to be done but held out hope of agreeing to a disarmament timetable.

''We all know that we've got a long road ahead of us with many steps,'' Hill told reporters. ''Maybe we could try to agree on getting these next phase things done in calendar year 07.'' South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, Chun Yung-woo, added his voice to calls for an end-of-year target for finishing the second stage of the North's disarmament.

Japan's Kyodo news agency quoted Chun as saying North Korea would declare all its nuclear programmes within the year.

The third phase would require North Korea handing over fissile nuclear materials and other atomic arms infrastructure.

After throwing out IAEA inspectors in late 2002, North Korea quit the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In 2005, Pyongyang declared it had nuclear arms, and last October it alarmed the world with its first test detonation.

North Korea's official Workers' Party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, meanwhile said the United States must remove ''all nuclear war equipment'' from South Korea, illustrating the North's long-held suspicions of hostile US intent.

The United States denies keeping nuclear weapons in the South.

REUTERS SM PM1618