DPRK destroys cooling tower at Yongbyon nuclear complex

PYONGYANG, June 27 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) destroyed the cooling tower at its Yongbyon nuclear complex on Friday afternoon.

The 30-meter-tall tower was blown up at 5:05 p.m. local time (0805 GMT), a Xinhua correspondent who had been at the spot said.

The Xinhua correspondent, together with some other journalists, who stood some 1,500 meters from the tower, first saw smoke rise from the exploded tower, and then heard a loud explosion.

At least one U.S. State Department official and some U.S. technicians witnessed the explosion.

The audience then were brought to the explosion site to see the relics.

Earlier, South Korea's MBC TV said the facility was destroyed shortly after 4 p.m. local time (0700 GMT).

The diameters of the tower's bottom and top were 22 and 13 meters respectively.

The destruction of the cooling tower, a key element of the Yongbyon nuclear reactor, symbolized the progress of the disablement phase under the September 2005 agreement of the six-party talks.

Some 16 journalists from five countries -- China, the United States, Japan, South Korea and Russia, together with at least three from the DPRK, mainly from TV broadcasters, witnessed the explosion.

They had been told that no press briefings by DPRK officials were to be offered on the spot. They were also asked not to shoot anything else except the explosion of the cooling tower.

The DPRK on Thursday submitted the long-delayed account of its nuclear inventory to China, the chair of the six-party talks.

The United States accordingly announced the same day that it may remove the DPRK from its list of state sponsors of terrorism in August if the country meets all its obligations under the six-party talks.

KYOTO, Japan, June 27 (Xinhua) -- The Group of Eight (G8) foreign ministers on Friday welcomed the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) move in providing a declaration of its nuclear inventory. Full story

PYONGYANG, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) submitted the long-waited declaration of its nuclear inventory to China, the chair of the six-party talks, Thursday.

The White House said in a statement shortly after the submission that it would lift trade sanctions against the DPRK and remove it from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. Full story

WASHINGTON, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The United States said Thursday it may remove the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) from its state sponsors of terrorism in August if the DPRK meets all its obligations under the six-party talks.

"After a period of 45 calendar days and absent the enactment of a joint resolution blocking the proposed rescission, the secretary of state may rescind North Korea's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism on August 11," the U.S. State Department said in a statement. Full story

PYONGYANG, June 27 (Xinhua)-- Pyongyang Friday welcomed Washington's decision to remove the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) from the U.S. terrorism blacklist and lift some sanctions against the northeast Asian nation. Full story

MOSCOW, June 27 (Xinhua) -- Russia welcomes the demolition of the cooling tower at the Yongbyon nuclear complex in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday. Full story

WASHINGTON, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The following are U.S. President George W. Bush's remarks in the White House Rose Garden Thursday following the nuclear declaration of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

"The policy of the United States is a Korean Peninsula free of all nuclear weapons. This morning, we moved a step closer to that goal, when North Korean officials submitted a declaration of their nuclear programs to the Chinese government as part of the six-party talks.