N.Korea nuclear dismantling continues

PYONGYANG, North Korea, July 17 (UPI) -- North Korea's further disabling of its main nuclear reactor under the latest round of six-party talks effort seems to be proceeding well.

North Korean workers, as of last week, had removed 4,000 of the 8,000 nuclear fuel rods from its Yongbyon reactor near Pyongyang and placed them in an adjacent water pond, Kyodo news service reported Thursday, quoting sources close to the denuclearization effort by the United States, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea.

The removal of the fuel rods from the reactor is one of final steps remaining to prevent the restart of the facility.

The latest steps follow the six-party talks, which resumed last week in Beijing after an absence of nine months. Those talks restarted after North Korea submitted its declaration of nuclear programs.

In Beijing, North Korea agreed it will complete the process by October, Kyodo said. In return it is to get substantial aid from the other countries.

"If North Korea is to finish disablement by that time frame, it would have to speed up the rate of discharging the fuel rods," one of the sources told Kyodo.

Yongbyon's fuel fabrication facility and the spent fuel reprocessing plant have been fully disabled, Kyodo said.