North Korea has said it stopped disabling its 5,000 kilowatt graphite-moderated reactor and two other nuclear facilities in Yongbyon on Aug. 14 and will consider restoring the facilities for plutonium production. The North justifies the move as a response to Washington's decision to put off removing it from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. North Korea should realize the selfishness of its act, which will further deepen its isolation.
In an October 2007 session of the six-party talks on North Korea's denuclearization, the North agreed to disable the Yongbyon nuclear complex by Dec. 31, 2007, and to "provide a complete and correct declaration of all its nuclear programs" by that date.
In return, the U.S. promised to delist the North as a state sponsor of terrorism. But North Korea failed to meet these deadlines. As for the disablement work, it is reported that eight of the 11 disablement measures have been completed.