EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on Oct. 11)

Breakthrough close

North Korea on Thursday informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that it
intends to reactivate the Yongbyon facility and it is banning IAEA officials from
the site.
Since announcing in September that it had begun to reverse the disabling work at
the Yongbyon facility, North Korea has been inching toward restarting its nuclear
arms program. Thursday's announcement was yet another step in that direction.
While Pyongyang takes steps to re-launch its nuclear program, there are a growing
number of reports that a deal between the United States and North Korea on the
nuclear program's verification is close at hand.
Various reports have said that North Korea will soon be taken off of the U.S.
list of state sponsors of terrorism, even if provisionally.
It has been reported that North Korea may be allowed to submit an approved
verification proposal to China - the host of the six-party talks aimed at North
Korean denuclearization. The United States would then take North Korea off the
U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. In a face-saving measure, the
verification plan would only be made public after the delisting.
While the United States and the remaining five countries involved in the
six-party talks aimed at North Korean denuclearization remain tight-lipped on the
matter, officials have been giving indications that despite North Korea's recent
steps toward restarting its nuclear program, it did not mean the end of the
six-party process. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters to "just
wait and see over the next several days."
The steps taken to reverse the disablement of the Yongbyon facility and the
recent test-firing of short-range missiles may be seen as attempts to up the ante
on the negotiations on the verification regime. Pyongyang has often exercised
brinkmanship in the past in order to have its demands met, and the recent
developments may be viewed in that light.
The United States said of North Korea's announcement on Thursday, "It is a
regrettable step but one that is reversible." Steps that North Korea has taken -
including removing seals on equipment and putting equipment back in place - are
reversible, a White House spokesperson said.
By all accounts, a breakthrough on the nuclear verification and delisting from
the U.S. terrorism list seems imminent. In the meantime, North Korea should stop
taking further steps toward reversing the disabling activities at the Yongbyon
nuclear site.