China has completed the delivery of 50,000 metric tons of fuel oil to North Korea, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday. Fuel supplies were a condition for Pyongyang to begin implementing measures as part of the first stage of its denuclearization.

China has completed the first fuel oil shipment to North Korea as part of a package of economic incentives in exchange for Pyongyang's denuclearization, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Tuesday.

South Korea is expected to complete a fuel oil shipment to the North on Sunday as part of a six-nation deal to encourage Pyongyang's nuclear disarmament, a Seoul-based news agency said.

Pyongyang received Saturday the first 6,200 metric tons of fuel oil from Seoul as part of an international denuclearization deal, the Xinhua news agency said referring to a source in the South Korean Unification Ministry.

South Korea will send the first shipment of fuel oil to North Korea July 12, a Unification Ministry spokesman said Friday. It said the shipment would be 6,200 tons.

North Korea is considering to shut down its main nuclear reactor as soon as it receives an initial shipment of energy aid.

North Korea is ready to shut down its nuclear reactor once it receives the first shipment of fuel oil to operate its heat and electric power plants, the Yonhap news agency said Thursday, citing a government source.

South Korea will begin delivering fuel oil to North Korea next week now that Pyongyang has pledged to shut down its nuclear reactor, the Unification Ministry said Wednesday.