Fuel oil shipment arrives in NKorea ahead of nuclear inspection

SEOUL (AFP) - A South Korean ship carrying the first batch of fuel oil to be delivered to North Korea under a nuclear disarmament deal arrived early Saturday, Kyodo news agency said.

The shipment arrived in the North's northeastern port of Sonbong, the report said, quoting South Korean unification ministry officials.

The North said it would consider closing its Yongbyon reactor as soon as it received the first shipment of fuel oil -- compensation for the shutdown under a February six-nation pact -- from South Korea.

Under the deal the energy-starved North will receive one million tons of fuel oil or equivalent aid, plus major diplomatic benefits and security guarantees, if it declares and dismantles all nuclear programmes.

Under the first phase North Korea is to receive 50,000 tons of oil for shutting down and sealing its reactor at Yongbyon in the presence of UN inspectors.

It will receive another 950,000 tons or equivalent aid, as well as the other benefits, if it permanently disables its nuclear plants and declares all its programmes.

The first step in the deal -- the closure of Yongbyon, which produces raw material for bomb-making plutonium -- is expected within days.

Inspectors were due to arrive in North Korea Saturday to check on North Korea's nuclear facilities for the first time in five years.

The International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring team, which arrived Friday in Beijing en route to Pyongyang on Saturday, was optimistic it would take place.

"With the kind of help we have got from the DPRK (North Korea) in the last few weeks, we think we will do our job in a successful way," said team leader Adel Tolba.

The Soviet-era reactor is at the heart of the North's nuclear programme, which culminated in its first atomic weapons test last October.

The two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan -- which make up the six nations involved in the disarmament process -- will resume talks Wednesday to discuss steps towards full denuclearisation after Yongbyon is shut down.

The six-nation deal also envisages talks on a treaty formally ending the 1950-53 Korean war.