North Korea has moved closer to shutting down its nuclear programme, a step that appeared on Tuesday to have prompted Washington to shift its position on providing aid to Pyongyang.

North Korea and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog, have agreed on measures for verifying the shutdown of the Yongbyon nuclear reactor that has produced weapons-grade material for a number of plutonium bombs, according to an IAEA report dated on Tuesday.