Satellite photos taken by the United States reflect "unusual activity", with more transportation and people going to and from the reactor than usual. After seeing the shots South Korea shared U.S. conclusions that this could be evidence of North Korea's intention to close down the reactor.
The RENHAP agency reported that in a telephone conversation Tuesday Song Min-soon, South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister, and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice agreed to give North Korea a few days to stop the reactor.
Under an agreement reached at six-nation talks on denuclearizing North Korea in February, Pyongyang was to stop and seal its nuclear reactor, produce a list of other nuclear facilities and swap access to IAEA inspectors for energy supplies and other assistance within 60 days, a deadline which expired Saturday.
However, North Korea refused to honor its commitments until its accounts with Banco Delta Asia in Macao were unfrozen. Although information emerged last week that access to the accounts was provided, Pyongyang said it would make sure before stopping the reactor.
In September 2005 the U.S. froze 52 North Korean accounts in the Macau bank as part of unilateral sanctions against Pyongyang. The United States has so far not produced evidence of North Korean violations and agreed to unfreeze $25 million last week.
Latest reports said Banco Delta Asia (BDA) has filed a petition with the U.S. Treasury Department to have the decision to "blacklist" BDA overturned, the South China Morning Post newspaper in Hong Kong quoted BDA's lawyer in the U.S. Joseph McLaughlin Tuesday.
"We are confident that the US legal system, in the end, will not sacrifice legal rights for political ends," he said.
BDA said in an official statement that the decision was politically motivated since it was based on disputes between the United States and North Korea.
U.S. Treasury officials have already expressed confidence that they will win the case.
The decision to put BDA on a "black list" of banks barring it from doing business with U.S. banks was made in early March 2007 and will come into effect Wednesday.
