VIENNA, April 2 (Reuters) – The U.N. nuclear watchdog said
on Monday it needed more information before it could take up an
invitation from North Korea to visit the country three years
after its inspectors were expelled.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) began talks
with North Korea last month over a possible visit.
The invitation appeared to be an attempt by Pyongyang to
show it was serious about a nuclear moratorium deal with the
United States even though it drew international condemnation for
saying it would launch a long-range rocket carrying a satellite.
“The IAEA sent a response to the DPRK on 30 March,” the
agency’s spokesman Greg Webb said in an email. North Korea is
known formally as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
(DPRK).
He said issues that would need to be discussed with the
reclusive Asian nation included “the timing of the visit; level
and composition of the delegation; technical points and other
information for the agency’s review”.
On March 16 North Korea announced plans for a satellite
launch this month using ballistic missile technology the United
States says is banned by United Nations sanctions. Washington in
turn suspended planned food aid to North Korea.
Asked what impact such a satellite launch would have on the
potential IAEA visit, Webb said: “We are following up the
invitation we received in a constructive spirit. You will
appreciate that we can’t simply jump on a plane and go, there
are a number of technical aspects that require proper
preparation.”
It is unclear how much scope for inspections the IAEA would
get despite Pyongyang’s assurances it would grant access to the
Yongbyon nuclear complex to verify a moratorium on uranium
enrichment.
The country has limited the inspectors’ access during two
previous periods.
North Korea expelled the IAEA a decade ago when a 1994 deal
with Washington unravelled. It threw the organisation out again
in April 2009 after rejecting intrusive inspections agreed under
a 2005 aid deal with five regional powers.
(Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by Alessandra Rizzo)
