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Seoul Calls on North to Honor Nuclear Deal

21 October 2010 01:18 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. South Korea is calling on the North to honor a 2005 nuclear disarmament deal and show it is serious about resuming six-party negotiations, APA reports quoting â€œThe Voice of Americaâ€.

A senior foreign ministry official says North Korea should allow international nuclear inspectors into the country, or declare a moratorium on its nuclear activities.

Under the 2005 deal, the North agreed to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs, return to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and allow international inspectors to oversee the disarmament steps.

In exchange, the North received 750,000 tons of heavy fuel oil. The fuel oil was just part of what was supposed to be a much bigger package of economic aid. However the agreement was suspended in 2008 when Pyongyang would not agree to verify that it was no longer trying to build nuclear weapons.