US: North Korea steps up disabling of nuclear reactor

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The United States says North Korea has stepped up disablement of a nuclear reactor it had been threatening to reactivate. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters Friday that US officials in North Korea report that Pyongyang has removed more fuel rods from the Yongbyon nuclear reactor. He says that puts them "beyond where they were prior to their reversing the disablement." The progress comes after the North agreed to resume a stalled nuclear disarmament process after the United States removed the country from a terrorism blacklist as an incentive.