N. Korea to resume dismantling nuclear facilities

A giant North Korean flag flutters on the top of a 160-meter (533-foot) tower in North Korea in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas at the Dora Observation Platform in Paju city, north of Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008. North Korea could resume disabling its nuclear reactor as early as Sunday after the United States removed the country from a list of states that sponsor terrorism, a South Korean official said. (Agencies)

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea said Sunday it will resume dismantling its main nuclear facilities, hours after the United States removed the communist country from a list of states that sponsor terrorism.

The North's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it will again allow U.S. and International Atomic Energy Agency inspections at Yongbyon to verify the disablement process, pledged under a previous disarmament-for-aid deal with the United States and four other regional powers.

"We welcome the U.S. which has honored its commitment to delist the DPRK as 'a state sponsor of terrorism,'" said the statement, carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.

North Korea halted the disablement in mid-August in anger at Washington over what it called a delay in the terror delisting and began moves aimed at potentially restarting the plutonium-producing facility north of Pyongyang.

The U.S. had said the North had to first allow verification of its declaration of nuclear programs submitted in June.

The U.S., however, said Saturday that it took the North off the terrorism blacklist as the North had agreed to all U.S. nuclear inspection demands

U.S. officials said the North will allow atomic experts to take samples and conduct forensic tests at all of its declared nuclear facilities and undeclared sites on mutual consent, and will permit them to verify that it has told the truth about transfers of nuclear technology and an alleged uranium program.

Christopher Hill, Washington's top nuclear envoy for North Korea, visited the country earlier this month to try and resolve the impasse and salvage a six-nation denuclearization agreement.

Earlier on Sunday, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement it welcomed the U.S. decision and the North's corresponding moves to resume disablement work. The ministry said that development would put the six-party talks back on track and lead to North Korea giving up its nuclear programs

"A key point is that North Korea should cooperate in verification procedures with sincerity," South Korea's top nuclear envoy Kim Sook told reporters on Sunday morning.

(Agencies)