Is there more than meets the eye with North Korea`s sudden and recent agreement to freeze uranium enrichment for food aid?

* FILE ** North Korea’s spent nuclear fuel rods, kept 

in a cooling pond, are seen at the nuclear facilities in 

Yongbyon, North Korea, about 60 miles north of the 

capital, in this 1996 photo released by South Korea’s 

Yonhap News Agency in 2003. (AP Photo/Yonhap 

News Agency, File)

N. Korea agrees to freeze nuclear programs for U.S. food aid
Washington Times
Wednesday, February 29, 2012

North Korea will put a moratorium on nuclear tests, long-range missile launches and uranium enrichment activities at its major Yongbyon nuclear facility, the State Department announced Wednesday.
Pyongyang will also allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to return to North Korea to “verify and monitor the moratorium on uranium enrichment activities at Yongbyon and confirm the disablement of the 5-MW reactor and associated facilities,” said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

In exchange, the United States has agreed to deliver a significant food-aid package to North Korea.

The announcement marks a new step in the tense relations between the West and North Korea following the death late last year of longtime North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il.

His passing set in motion an uncertain transfer of power to his son, 27-year-old Kim Jong-un, who is slated to become the youngest person to head a nation with nuclear weapons.

While the State Department took care not to characterize the agreement as a quid pro quo, Ms. Nuland said U.S. officials have agreed to meet with representatives from Pyongyang.

They will “finalize administrative details necessary to move forward with our proposed package of 240,000 metric tons of nutritional assistance along with the intensive monitoring required for the delivery of such assistance,” she said.

The sudden concessions by Pyongyang, and agreement by the United States arrives on the heals of a meeting last week in Beijing between Glyn Davies, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, and Kim Kye-gwan, North Korea’s first vice foreign minister.

U.S. officials also reaffirmed that Washington has no “hostile intent toward” North Korea and “is prepared to take steps to improve our bilateral relationship in the spirit of mutual respect for sovereignty and equality,” Ms. Nuland said.

“The United States still has profound concerns regarding North Korean behavior across a wide range of areas, but today´s announcement reflects important, if limited, progress in addressing some of these,” she said.

The Feb. 23 meeting in Beijing also signaled the first thaw in relations toward Pyongyang since six-nation talks with North Korea broke down after the communist government violated a 2005 agreement to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons in exchange for aid and security guarantees.

The six-nation talks — involving the United States, Russia, China, Japan and North and South Korea — were declared effectively dead in 2009 when North Korea claimed to have successfully created an underground nuclear explosion.


RT News (02/29/12) on N. Korea`s recent statement to freeze enrichment for food aid:

This TV footage from the National Chinese Television channel shows North Korea's cooling tower seconds before its public demolition at Yongbyon nuclear complex. (AFP Photo / CCTV) (RT News Feb 29, 2012)

Read/Additional Info:
N. Korea to halt nuke enrichment, missile tests - US (RT News, Feb 29, 2012)