The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) reiterated its commitment Tuesday to the implementation of the Feb. 13 agreement, saying it will fulfill its promise as soon as it has retrieved 25 million U.S. dollars in funds frozen in Macao's Banco Delta Asia.

"The DPRK still remains unchanged in its willingness to implement the Feb. 13 agreement", a spokesman of the DPRK Foreign Ministry was cited by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as saying.

"The DPRK will start to implement the agreement as soon as the issue of the frozen funds has been completely settled... Furthermore, the DPRK will invite the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delegation to visit here," he said.

"The DPRK will start sincere negotiations with the United States to talk about a series of issues on the next phase of nuclear disarmament after the suspension of the nuclear facility was completed," he added.

According to the agreement adopted by six parties during their latest talks on Feb. 13, the DPRK was supposed to shut down and seal the Yongbyon facilities within 60 days in exchange for 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil or equivalent aid.

The United States last Tuesday urged the DPRK to fulfill its promise to shut down its major nuclear facility after the latter failed to shut down its main nuclear reactor by an April 14 deadline, as agreed in the six-party talks in February.

The DPRK insisted that its 25 million dollars frozen at Macao-based Banco Delta Asia must be returned before closing the Yongbyon nuclear reactor and starting new negotiations.

Source: Xinhua