A senior North Korean diplomat warned Monday that Pyongyang will stop dismantling its nuclear facilities unless Japan fulfills its obligation to provide North Korea with energy assistance under a six-party deal.
"Unless Japan implements the heavy fuel assistance, the activities will be suspended," the Beijing-based diplomat, who is a participant in the six-party talks, was quoted as saying by lawmaker Yoshihiro Kawakami after a meeting in the Chinese capital.
Kawakami, a Democratic Party of Japan member of the House of Councilors, said the North Korean diplomat strongly criticized Japan's policy of refusing to provide energy aid until there is progress in resolving the abductions dispute.
The diplomat said 90 percent of the work to dismantle the Yongbyon nuclear complex, which is capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium, has been completed under the terms of last year's denuclearization-for-aid deal reached among the six parties.