US: NKorea still moving to restart reactor

WASHINGTON — The State Department says a U.S. diplomat's trip to North Korea has not stopped the North from moving to restore its disabled nuclear reactor.

Christopher Hill, the U.S. envoy at stalled North Korean nuclear talks, had detailed discussions with North Korean officials on how to save the troubled disarmament efforts, said State Department spokesman Robert Wood.

But he said Friday the North continues to put equipment it had moved to storage back to its original location.

If the North continues to restore the reactor, Wood said, "We obviously weren't able to get them to stop."

North Korea stopped disabling its reactor because it's still on Washington's terrorism blacklist.

The U.S. says North Korea must first allow a thorough verification of its nuclear program.

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