U.S. Can't Confirm If N. Korea Began Removing Seals on Reactor: State Dept.

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- The U.S. State Department said on Sept. 8 it cannot confirm reports that North Korea has begun removing seals on its nuclear reactor in the first step toward reactivating the plant, which had been disabled under a multilateral nuclear deal.

"The assessment that we have right now -- and admittedly it's imperfect --
is that they are just taking some of those steps like taking some of the
equipment out of storage, where it had been, perhaps taking off some of those
seals, which I can't confirm," spokesman Sean McCormack said. "That's
the prism through which you should see this right now."

Reports said North Korea has removed the seals applied by the International
Atomic Energy Agency under the deal signed by the two Koreas, the U.S., China,
Japan and Russia, citing Washington's failure to take North Korea off the list of
state sponsors of terrorism.

The U.S. has not yet delisted the North due to a lack of agreement on verifying
North Korea's nuclear programs. Pyongyang responded by declaring it will stop
disabling its plutonium-producing reactor and will consider restoring it.

Christopher Hill, U.S. assistant secretary of state, just concluded a trip to
Beijing, but failed to meet with North Korea's chief nuclear envoy, Kim Kye-gwan,
spawning speculation that North Korea has no intention of negotiating further
with the outgoing Bush administration.

"There are verbal threats to reverse the process, there are preparations to
reverse the process, and actual reversal of process," McCormack said.
"I think that they're probably somewhere in that second step in terms of
taking preparations to try to reverse it."

The spokesman demanded that "equipment and the seals, if broken, be
returned."

He urged the North to "focus their energies on completing a verification
regime," saying, "If they complete a verification regime, we have every
expectation that this process can move forward."

Hill said in Beijing over the past weekend that Washington will delist Pyongyang
as soon as the North presents a complete verification protocol.

McCormack expressed hope that China will play a greater role in persuading the
North to come out with the much-awaited verification regime.

"I think China will play a key role in trying to move it forward," he
said. "They're the chair of the process, and it's also well-known that they
have a unique relationship -- I guess is the way to put it -- with North Korea, a
relationship that no other state enjoys."