SEOUL, JULY 6, SPA -- North Korea said Friday it iswilling to shut down its main nuclear reactor as soon as itreceives an initial shipment of energy aid promised as areward for closing the facility, REPORTED AP.. It is the first time that the communist nation hasindicated a specific timeline for when it would close itsYongbyon facility in exchange for economic aid andpolitical concessions, including 50,000 tons of heavy fueloil, as called for by a February international deal. The North's Foreign Ministry said the country «is nowearnestly examining even the issue of suspending theoperation of its nuclear facilities earlier than expected,that is from the moment the first shipment of heavy oilequivalent to one-tenth of the total quantity is made,»according to the country's official Korean Central NewsAgency. South Korea said earlier Friday that a first shipment ofthe energy aid, totaling 6,200 metric tons, would departfor North Korea on July 12. That is more than one tenth of the 50,000 tons. SouthKorea's Yonhap news agency reported Friday that theshipment is expected to arrive in North Korea on July 14. That means the shutdown could theoretically begin nextweek. The February agreement, which involves China, Japan, thetwo Koreas, Russia and the U.S., calls for the communistNorth to ultimately get additional aid equivalent to950,000 tons when it irreversibly disables its reactor anddeclares all its nuclear programs. South Korean chief nuclear negotiator, Chun Yung-woo, saidhe expects the six-party talks on the nuclear issue toresume later this month after North Korea close Yongbyon. «A meeting among the head delegates of the six-partytalks will be held this month,» Chun told reporters inBeijing following discussions with his Chinese counterpart,Wu Dawei. «No date has been determined. It looks likeChina, as the host country, will decide after listening tothe other countries' opinions.» Efforts to push the talks forward and implement a Februaryagreement that committed the North to shutting down itsmain reactor in exchange for economic aid and politicalconcessions had been held up by a financial dispute betweenPyongyang and Washington. The issue was finally resolvedlast week. Chun said the early shipment is aimed at encouraging NorthKorea to close Yongbyon as early as possible. «Sending the oil even a day earlier is related to NorthKorea's early implementation,» he said upon returning toSeoul. «It's good to send it as soon as possible. Wecouldn't pull up the date any sooner, technically, sothat's why it's only being sent on the 12th.» The International Atomic Energy Agency is getting ready toapprove plans on how to oversee the shutdown after itsdelegation's trip last week to the North, which included avisit to the Yongbyon facility. That visit marked the firsttime U.N. nuclear inspectors had been inside the Northsince they were expelled in late 2002. The agency is expected to complete its monitoring plans asearly as Monday. Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the IAEA, will bein Seoul next week for an international atomic technologyconference, South Korea's Science and Technology Ministrysaid in a statement Thursday. Although his three-day trip that begins Wednesday is notlinked to the North Korean nuclear issue, it will include ameeting with Foreign Minister Song Min-soon, the ministrysaid. ElBaradei traveled to North Korea in March in what wasbilled as a landmark visit following the February nuclearagreement.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/465236