Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei will go to North Korea "on March 13 for a
two-day visit" at the invitation of North Korea government to
discuss the detailed work of shutting down and sealing North
Korea's nuclear facility, said IAEA Spokeswoman Melissa Fleming on
Sunday.
On Feb. 24, ElBaradei announced, without giving a specific date,
that Pyongyang had invited him to visit North Korea within the next
few weeks to see how North Korea can establish a "normalized
relationship with the agency" and "implement the agreement reached
on the freezing of facilities."
The latest round of six-party talks, involving China, the United
States, North Korea, South Korea, Russia and Japan, ended in
Beijing on Feb. 13 with a joint statement on the first step toward
the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Under the document, North Korea will shut down and seal its
Yongbyon nuclear facility including the reprocessing facility and
will invite IAEA inspectors to return to the country for monitoring
and verifying its actions.
The parties agreed to give emergency energy assistance to North
Korea in the initial phase, providing Pyongyang 50,000 tons of
heavy fuel oil within 60 days in return for shutting down the
reactor, according to the document.
The next round of the six-party talks is scheduled for March 19
in Beijing.
(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2007)
