WORLD / Asia-Pacific
UN inspectors expected in N.Korea soon
(AP)
Updated: 2007-07-11 15:29
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohamed El
Baradei (L) and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun meet at the
Presidential Blue House in Seoul July 11, 2007. U.N. nuclear inspectors
will likely arrive in North Korea on Saturday to verify a promised
shutdown of the country's nuclear reactor and source of arms-grade
plutonium, the head of the IAEA said on Wednesday. [Reuters]
SEOUL, South Korea - UN nuclear agency inspectors will return Saturday to
North Korea to monitor the shutdown of its sole operating nuclear
reactor, the agency head said Wednesday, a sign that Pyongyang is
complying with its disarmament pledge.
It would be the first time in nearly five years for North Korea to
receive inspections from the International Atomic Energy Agency since the
country expelled IAEA monitors shortly after the latest nuclear crisis
erupted in late 2002.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said upon his arrival in Seoul that the
monitors were expected to travel Saturday and arrive in Pyongyang the
same day. He said it was not known if the reactor could be shut down
before the inspectors arrive.
"We will verify that they will shut it. Whether they shut it before or
not, that is immaterial," ElBaradei told reporters.
North Korea has said it would be willing to shut down its Yongbyon
reactor after receiving an initial shipment of oil under a February deal
where the Pyongyang pledged to start dismantling its nuclear weapons
program.
South Korea, who is shipping the oil, said the shipment is expected to
arrive Saturday in the North.
ElBaradei came to Seoul to attend an international atomic technology
conference scheduled for Thursday, but his visit also includes meetings
with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and Foreign Minister Song
Min-soon.
The chief nuclear inspector, who visited the North earlier this year, has
no known plans to travel to North Korea.
Earlier Wednesday, South Korean Foreign Minister Song also said IAEA
monitors were expected to arrive in the North over this coming weekend,
adding that Pyongyang's shutdown of Yongbyon is expected to come in a
similar timeframe.
If North Korea shuts down the reactor, it would be the first move it has
made to scale back its atomic weapons development since the nuclear
standoff began in late 2002.
Since then, North Korea is believed to have produced enough plutonium
from its sole operating reactor at Yongbyon to make as many as a dozen
bombs or more, and conducted its first-ever nuclear weapons test
explosion in October.
The halting negotiations aimed at getting the North to stop its nuclear
weapons production have gained new life in the wake of the test after the
US reversed its previous hard-line stance on the North and showed
willingness to meet Pyongyang's demands -- including its main condition
of freeing money frozen in a Macau bank.
The IAEA's board of directors, meeting Monday in Vienna, approved the
coming weekend's mission, following a visit there by the agency's deputy
director general late last month to discuss details of verifying the
shutdown.
Song said Wednesday that the chief delegates from countries involved in
international talks over the North's nuclear program -- China, Japan,
Russia, the United States and the two Koreas -- were expected to meet
next week in Beijing even though the Chinese hosts have not yet formally
announced the talks.
Washington has also said its chief nuclear envoy, Assistant Secretary of
State Christopher Hill, would depart for the region over the weekend and
was expected to participate in the six-nation talks around July 18. The
negotiations were last held in March.
Next week's meetings are expected to discuss details of the North's
pledge to declare and disable its nuclear programs and facilities in
exchange for an additional energy aid and political concessions from
other countries, Song said.
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