The Korean-language Choson Shinbo said Pyongyang may freeze its main nuclear power plant at Yongbyon, which produces weapons-grade plutonium, if the United States resumes oil deliveries to the country, and a U.S.-led consortium follows through with the construction of light-water reactors pledged under a 1994 deal.
North Korea's willingness to shut down the facility "is based on the premise that it will be dismantled," the paper said.
Shutting down the five-megawatt Yongbyon reactor under the scrutiny of the UN's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, was part of Washington's Early Harvest plan proposed to deal with the first outbreak of a crisis over North Korea's nuclear program in the early 1990s. In return, the U.S. undertook to build two light-water reactors, which are more difficult to convert to military use, and to supply the reclusive Communist nation with heavy fuel oil until the facility is launched.
But the project was mothballed in 2002 after President George W. Bush came to the White House and the crisis over North Korea's nuclear ambitions reemerged.
Pyongyang has signaled its readiness for compromise just days before the next round of six-nation talks on its nuclear program, which is scheduled to kick off in Beijing Thursday. The talks also involve South Korea, China, Japan, the United States, and Russia.
On Sunday, Japan's Asahi newspaper said the North will ask for 500,000 metric tons (3.68 million barrels) of crude a year in return for the closure of its nuclear facility and allowing limited IAEA inspections.
In September 2005, Pyongyang promised to dismantle its nuclear program in exchange for aid and security guarantees. But the negotiations broke off later that year when Washington blocked the regime's account at a Macao bank over alleged counterfeiting and money laundering. They did not resume until December 2006, two months after North Korea reported carrying out its first nuclear bomb test.
