NK Denounces Japans involvement in Denuclearization on Peninsula

Japan's involvement in the denuclearization accord on North Korea will only create instability in the process, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper said Saturday.

"The aim sought by Japan to chill the efforts of bringing about progress at the six-party talks designed to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula is eventually to realize its militarization," said an editorial in the Chosun Sinbo, a newspaper run by pro-Pyongyang residents in Japan.

"Japan had been constantly bringing up the abductees issue during the six-party talks in order to bring a deadlock, and now it is trying to block the six-party talks by usurping Chongryon's buildings."

Chongryon is the Korean name for the General Association of Korean Residents, a group of pro-North Korean residents in Japan. Founded in 1955, the organization has served as Pyongyang's de-facto diplomatic mission in Tokyo, as they have no diplomatic relations.

Chongryon is reportedly on the verge of bankruptcy, after a Japanese court sanctioned the seizure of Chongryon's headquarters last month due to its failure to repay debts.

The February agreement involving six nations - two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan - grants up to 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil to the energy-starved North in exchange for the shutdown and eventual disablement of the Yongbyon facility.

North Korea has said it will not shut down the Yongbyon compound until it starts receiving the 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil promised in the energy-for-denuclearization pact signed on Feb. 13, South Korean officials have confirmed.

On Friday, the North strongly hinted that it would suspend operations at its main nuclear reactor as soon as it receives an initial shipment of energy aid as promised in the February deal.