US welcomes N Korea's nuclear moratorium

The White House welcomed North Korea's decision to suspend its testing of nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles viewing it as a positive step, but stressed the importance of the Asian country's adherence to its commitments. "What we’re doing today, is welcoming a positive step that is the result of the discussions in Beijing. We will continue to pursue our core objective here, which is the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. And we will monitor the North Koreans’ behavior in how they live up to the agreements that they’ve made in Beijing," White House spokesman Jay Carney said at a press briefing. "The agreements that the North Koreans have made are very welcome, but obviously they need to be followed up by actions. And commitments to do something are one thing; actually doing them are another," he noted. On what this step meant in terms of the resumption of six-party talks, Carney said: "Well, this is a step towards that, but, again, I think it will depend on actions that the North Koreans take to demonstrate that they are upholding the agreements that they’ve made." North Korea announced a moratorium on its nuclear tests, uranium enrichment, and long-range missile tests earlier on Wednesday, following a third round of talks with the United States in Beijing last week. The US Department of State simultaneously announced that North Korea has also agreed on the return of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to verify and monitor the moratorium on uranium enrichment activities at Yongbyon and confirm the disablement of the 5-MW reactor and associated facilities. In return to the North's move, Washington has agreed to meet with North Korean officials in the immediate future to finalise administrative details necessary to move forward with its proposed package of 240,000 tons of nutritional assistance with the prospect of additional aid based on continued need.