IAEA members welcome North Korea deal

Mar 7, 2007, 11:27 GMT

Vienna - Member States of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Wednesday welcomed North Korea's decision to freeze its nuclear programme and re-establish relations with the UN nuclear watchdog.

Speaking on behalf of the European Union, German ambassador Peter Gottwald welcomed the agreement, expressing hope it would be North Korea's 'first step on the way back towards honouring its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.'

The EU underlined the necessity of a swift and full implementation of the agreement.

IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei is due to travel to North Korea on March 13 for a two-day visit, during which he intends to discuss the details of monitoring the freeze of the country's nuclear programme and the eventual dismantling of its nuclear facilities.

North Korea invited IAEA inspectors back when it agreed during six-party talks in Beijing in February to abandon its nuclear activities at the Yongbyong nuclear site in exchange for security guarantees and substantial aid payments.

IAEA inspectors were forced to leave the country in December 2002 when North Korea abandoned the Agreed Framework with the US to freeze its nuclear programme. In October 2006, North Korea reported it had successfully tested a nuclear explosive device.

On Wednesday, bilateral talks between North Korea and Japan to normalize diplomatic relations failed after just one session. North Korean negotiators broke off the talks held in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi. Reasons for the cancellations were not publicized.

In New York, US and North Korean officials started discussing the normalization of diplomatic relations after 50 years. US officials said the atmosphere was 'positive,' stressing that North Korea made clear it intended to honour its obligation to shut down its nuclear facilities within 60 days of the agreement of February 13.

After ElBaradei's return the IAEA's 35-nation board is expected to hold a special meeting to formally approve IAEA monitoring of the implementation of the agreement and decide on details of financing the inspections, diplomats in Vienna said.