Korea destroyed the most visible symbol
of its nuclear weapons program Friday,
blasting apart the cooling tower at
its main atomic reactor in a sign of its
commitment to stop making plutonium
for atomic bombs.
An explosion at the base of the cylindrical
structure sent the tower collapsing
into debris and dust that billowed
into blue skies at 5:10 p.m. local time as
journalists and diplomats looked on, according
to footage filmed at the site by
international video news agency Associated
Press Television News.
The demolition of the 20-metre-tall
cooling tower at North Korea's main
reactor complex is a response to U.S.
concessions after the North delivered a
declaration Thursday of its nuclear programs
to be dismantled.
"This is a very important step in the
disablement process and I think it puts
us in a good position to move into the
next phase," said Sung Kim, the U.S.
State Department's top expert on the
Koreas, who attended the demolition.
After the tower's tumble to the ground,
Kim shook hands with Ri Yong Ho, director
of safeguards at North Korea's
Academy of Atomic Energy Research,
who was the most senior Pyongyang official
present.
"The demolition of the cooling tower
is proof that the six-party talks have
proceeded a step further," Ri said, referring
to the nuclear negotiations.
The tower destruction was not mentioned
by the North's media or shown
on state TV broadcasts.
U.S. State Department spokesman
Tom Casey said that North Korea had
agreed to principles for verifying its
declaration.
"They have agreed that every question
that we have about their nuclear
program -- plutonium, uranium, proliferation
-- is something they have to
answer," he said.
Last year, the North switched off the
reactor at Yongbyon, some 100 kilometres
north of the capital of Pyongyang,
and it already has begun disabling the
facility under the watch of U.S. experts
so that it cannot easily be restarted.
-- The Associated Press
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