This removed an obstacle to implementing North Korea's agreement to shut down its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon.
The agreement would shut out of the diamond trade nations that do not sign on to the principles.
Under a 2005 agreement, North Korea shut down its reactor at Yongbyon — the source of plutonium for its nuclear weapons — and promised to dismantle its bomb-making infrastructure.
The result was a break in negotiations — and years of inaction that North Korea used to stockpile enough plutonium for almost a dozen weapons, until finally in 2007 American concessions led to Pyongyang's agreement to shut down its nuclear reactor.
Under a 2005 agreement, North Korea shut down its reactor at Yongbyon — the source of plutonium for six or more nuclear weapons — and promised to dismantle its bomb-making infrastructure.
South Korea, facing criticism after it agreed Sunday to send 400,000 tons of rice to North Korea despite the North's prevarication on a Feb 13 international agreement to shut down its main nuclear reactor, warned that North Korea might not get all the aid if it continued to refuse to live up to its commitment.
While a meeting in 2007 reached an agreement to shut down and seal the Yongbyon nuclear facility - including the reprocessing plant - and allowed IAEA personnel to conduct all necessary monitoring and inspections, the North had the bomb and the damage had been done.
Over the last month, Pyongyang promised to shred the 1953 armistice agreement and shut off the hotline at the border region.
The agreement would shut workers out of sandwich-related jobs in much of the country.
Iran's agreement to shut down underground uranium enrichment operations at its Fordo nuclear facility and convert it into a nuclear research center was bitterly criticized by conservative Iranian analyst Mahdi Mohammad as "a disaster" in remarks he gave to Fars.
