US: N.K. Continuing Moves to Restart Nuclear Program

The US State Department said on Friday that North Korea has not stopped taking steps to restart its nuclear weapons program.

Speaking at a news conference in Washington, State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters the North was still moving equipment from its nuclear facilities it had put in storage back to its original location.

"Based on recent information we've received, the North Koreans continue to take some steps to reverse disablement at some of their, at some of the Yongbyon facilities. In essence, the only details I can give you on that basically are that, you know, some of the equipment that was moved to storage we're now seeing put back in place. So I don't have any further details on that. We're obviously going to monitor the situation. But that's where it stands right now."

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill returned to South Korea from a three-day trip to the North to try to salvage a six-party disarmament pact after North Korea reversed the dismantlement of its nuclear facilities.

He said earlier that he had had "substantive" discussions with representatives from the North.

North Korea had been disabling its nuclear facilities at its Yongbyon complex as part of an aid-for-disarmament pact negotiated by the six nations, but abruptly stopped in mid-August, citing Washington's refusal to remove it from a list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Washington says the North must first accept strict outside verification of the nuclear inventory that Pyongyang handed over in June -- a key topic in Hill's discussions in Pyongyang.