North Korea has slowed down some of its nuclear disablement activities, saying it had to coordinate with the receipt of energy aid, US nuclear envoy Sung Kim said Tuesday.
"I believe they have slowed down the pace a bit. They have cited the need to sort of coordinate the timing of energy assistance," Kim told reporters when asked whether Pyongyang has slowed down some disablement activities.
The North, which staged a nuclear test in October 2006, is disabling its plutonium-producing reactor and other plants in return for energy aid and diplomatic and security guarantees under a deal reached last year.
The deal is with the United States, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea.
Pyongyang has missed a December 31 deadline to declare its nuclear program and its past proliferation record, but last week handed Kim 18,000 pages of documents to support verification of an eventual declaration.
