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Inspectors to return to N Korea
11/07/2007 10:22 - (SA)
Seoul, South Korea - UN nuclear agency inspectors will return on Saturday to North Korea to monitor the shutdown of its sole operating nuclear reactor, the agency head said on Wednesday, a sign that Pyongyang is complying with its disarmament pledge.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said upon his arrival in Seoul that the monitors were expected to travel on 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 programme.
South Korea, who is shipping the oil, said the shipment is expected to arrive on 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 the communist nation.
Earlier on 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 the North shuts down the reactor, it would be the first move it has made to scale back its atomic weapons development since the nuclear stand-off began in late 2002.
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