Work of removing seals and monitoring cameras from frozen nuclear facilities to start
KNCA
Pyongyang, December 22 (KCNA) -- The Korean Central News Agency issued the following report on Dec. 22: As already reported, the DPRK Government on Dec. 12 issued a decision to lift the measure of nuclear freeze taken on the premise that 500,000 tons of heavy oil would be annually supplied to the DPRK under the DPRK-U.S. Agreed Framework and resume the operation and construction of nuclear facilities to generate electricity to cope with the U.S. stop of the supply of heavy oil to the DPRK from December in serious violation of the AF.
The DPRK's freeze of nuclear facilities and the U.S. supply of heavy oil dovetailed with each other as simultaneous actions under the AF. And the measure to lift the nuclear freeze was taken because the U.S. unilaterally abandoned its commitment to supply heavy oil in compensation for the loss of electricity.
Announcing this decision, the DPRK made it clear that the issue of refreezing its nuclear facilities entirely depends on the attitude of the U.S. side and it has closely followed the U.S. attitude, exercising its maximum self-restraint.
And the DPRK, informing the IAEA of its decision to lift its nuclear freeze to cope with the U.S. stop of the supply of heavy oil to it, clarified that this decision is a serious special step taken by it to protect its sovereignty and vital rights from the U.S. as the decision was made not according to an agreement with the IAEA or the safeguards accord but according to the agreement with the U.S. it twice urged the IAEA to collect the seals and monitoring cameras at an early date as it is an urgent issue to make up for vacuum in the power production.
The U.S. is responding to the DPRK's call by escalating international pressure on the DPRK, insisting that dialogue is possible only when the DPRK drops its nuclear program first, far from positively reacting to such patient efforts of the DPRK to settle the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful way.
The IAEA has not shown any positive attitude, whiling away time after proposing what it called working negotiations.
This situation compelled the DPRK to immediately start the work of removing the seals and monitoring cameras from the frozen nuclear facilities for their normal operation to produce electricity.
