July 16, 2007 (LPAC)--Dick Cheney will not be happy about the inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) returning to Korea to verify reports by the North Koreans that they have shut down their nuclear energy reactor, and he is likely to do anything possible to sabotage the progress, said Lyndon LaRouche today, adding, "So watch out for that."

The announcement that the IAEA inspectors had returned to verify the shutdown of the reactor at Yongbyon was made by U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill in Tokyo today, reported the Russian news service, RIA Novosti. Hill emphasized that "this is just a first step," and the followup steps will be as difficult to reach as this first milestone in the Six Party negotiations.

China Daily reported today that "North Korea is ready to start disabling its nuclear programs following the shutdown of its sole operating reactor ...as long as the United States lifts all sanctions against the country."

A North Korean minister at the North's United Nations mission in New York, Kim Myong Gil, said that the reactor was shut down "immediately after the arrival of the first heavy fuel oil" shipment from South Korea, but the Foreign Ministry emphasized that the preparations for the shutdown had been completed even before the shipment arrived.

The next phase of disclosing details of the nuclear research by the North will depend on the United States taking positive action "in parallel," says China Daily. The two demands of North Korea to the U.S. are the lifting of economic sanctions and removing the nation from the U.S. "terrorist list." Kim added, "All those things should be discussed and resolved."

Though cautious, Hill said, according to China Daily, that North Korea's nuclear facilities could be completely disabled by the end of this year.