N Korea missed date to halt N program

New Delhi: North Korea's deadline to shut its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon ends on Saturday. But it is uncertain if the nuclear weapons program will be closed as agreed.

North Korea says it will first confirm the release of $ 25 million frozen at a Macau Bank before dismantling its nuclear program. These funds were blocked for the past 18 months.

America, China, Japan, Russia and the two Koreas had agreed upon the deadline to to shut and seal all operations within 60 days at the primary nuclear facilities it has used to produce weapons-grade plutonium in February.

In exchange, the United States and four other nations agreed to provide economic, humanitarian and energy assistance.