S. Korean nuclear envoy to visit N. Korea for possible fuel rod purchase

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's deputy chief nuclear envoy will visit
North Korea this week to discuss Seoul's possible purchase of unused fuel rods
stored at the North's main nuclear facilities and being disabled under a
multilateral deal, a foreign ministry source said Tuesday.
Hwang Joon-kook, director general of the ministry's North Korean nuclear affairs
bureau, will leave for Beijing on Wednesday, where he will take a flight to
Pyongyang the following day. The inter-Korean border is tightly sealed for South
Korean government officials amid strained ties between the two sides.
"Hwang will visit Pyongyang and Yongbyon along with a group of related South
Korean experts to examine the condition of the fuel rods," the source told Yonhap
News Agency. "He will meet with some North Korean officials."
The date of his return to Seoul has not been set yet, the source added.
Removing the unused fuel rods from the Yongbyon reactor is the last of 11
disablement steps. South Korea thinks the unused rods in Yongbyon can be used at
its nuclear power plants.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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