US pays $2.5 million for NKorean nuclear demolition: official

The United States said Friday it contributed 2.5 million dollars for the demolition of the cooling tower of North Korea's key nuclear reactor as part of a denuclearization effort.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the sum but could not verify reports that the total cost of the 30-metre (99-foot) tower's demolition was five million dollars as claimed by the North Koreans.

The New York Times said in a report Friday that conservative hard-liners in Washington skeptical of the nuclear deal with North Korea felt the US contribution was too much.
TV footage showed the tower engulfed in a huge cloud of smoke as a landmark piece of the country's nuclear history collapsed in ruins.

"It was a significant and very important step," US State Department official Sung Kim told a reporter at the scene Friday.