NIS Is Assessing Unusual Movement in Yongbyon

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) confirmed this newspaper’s report on April 17 that said that Washington had detected unusual activity in Yongbyon. “We are checking on the strange movement that was noticed around the reprocessing facilities and nuclear reactor in Yongbyon, located in North Pyongan Province, North Korea,” said an official from the NIS.

After exchanging information with America’s intelligence authorities, the NIS allegedly affirmed that the unusual movement in North Korea could mean that Pyongyang is preparing to shut down the nuclear facilities there. Recently, movement of people and vehicles was spotted around the Yongbyon nuclear reactor’s cooling tower and parking lot.

As such, the government is planning to hold a 13th Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation Promotion Committee meeting in Pyongyang from April 18-21 as scheduled. At the meeting, the two Koreas will finalize an agreement under which South Korea will send 400,000 tons of rice in the form of loan to the North.

The assistance is expected to spark controversy in South Korea because Pyongyang will receive the rice even though the regime has not fulfilled its obligation. According to the February 13 agreement reached at the conclusion of the latest round of six-way talks, North Korea must take visible actions of shutting down the nuclear facilities.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s foreign minister Song Min-soon and his American counterpart Condoleezza Rice had a phone conversation on April 17. They shared high expectations of North Korea’s early actions to close down the facilities.

As for Pyongyang’s money held in Macao’s Banco Delta Asia, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said that, “The issue will be soon resolved, but certain issues still remain.”

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