Seoul: June 19, 2007 (Tuesday) - Washington’s chief nuclear negotiator expressed his sincere hope on Tuesday that Pyongyang shall surely shut down its main nuclear reactor next month as promised..  North Korea is happy that US is arranging the transfer of $25m in frozen funds from a Macanese bank to North Korea, via New York and Russia.

After this transfer, there looks to be no hitch for Pyongyang to honor its own commitment of February 13 denuclearisation agreement, under which Kim Jong-il’s regime agreed to shut down the Yongbyon nuclear reactor and supply a list of all its nuclear programmes.

North Korea on Saturday invited inspectors of International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, to visit and discuss shutting down the reactor. IAEA officials are due in Pyongyang next week, the first time since 2002.

Russia’s Interfax news agency on Monday quoted an unidentified North Korean diplomatic source as saying Pyongyang would seal the Yongbyon reactor, located about 100km north of Pyongyang, in the second half of July.

“We are pleased the process is moving forward and what we want to do is continue to build momentum so that not only we can get through this initial actions, but move to the next phase which will involve... moving to the disablement of the Yongbyon facility,” Christopher Hill, the US assistant secretary of state, told reporters in Seoul on Tuesday.

He is visiting China, South Korea and Japan to discuss reconvening the multilateral talks aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.