Deal to Shut Major North Korean Nuclear Facilities Appears Closer

North Korea and the United States appeared on Friday to be inching closer to a deal that would establish a schedule for the North to shut down and seal its main nuclear facilities within two months, in return for shipments of fuel oil from South Korea and the beginning of talks over normalization of relations with Washington. In Washington, officials at the White House and the State Department were preparing for a major announcement this weekend, and described the agreement as very different from the nuclear freeze that the Clinton administration negotiated in 1994. That agreement ultimately fell apart, and the North has produced enough fuel for more than half a dozen nuclear weapons during President Bush’s term. “This is the Libya model,” said one senior administration official, referring to Libya’s decision in late 2003 to turn over all of the equipment it had purchased from the secret nuclear network run by the Pakistani scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, to produce bomb fuel. Full Story