South Korean Agency Cites IAEA Chief: Five North Nuclear Facilities ‘Shut Down’

Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap

[Yonhap headline: "N. Korea Shuts Down All Five Nuclear Facilities: IAEA Chief"]

SEOUL, July 18 (Yonhap) – North Korea has shut down four more nuclear facilities after closing Sunday its key nuclear reactor that produces weapons-grade plutonium, the chief of the UN nuclear watchdog was quoted as saying Wednesday by the Associated Press.

“We have verified all the five nuclear facilities have been shut down,” Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency told reporters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, according to the AP.

Just hours after receiving 6,200 tons of heavy fuel oil from South Korea last weekend, North Korea shut down its 5-megawatt Yongbyon reactor.

The shipment is part of 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil promised to the North in the first step towards the North’s denuclearization under a February nuclear deal.

The North was also supposed to close four other nuclear facilities as part of the first step.

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