NKorea lifts ban on UN inspectors
North Korea has lifted ban on the United Nations inspectors monitoring its plutonium plant within days after the United States removed the Communist nation from its list of states sponsoring terrorism.
By PTI |
NEW YORK: North Korea has lifted ban on the United Nations inspectors monitoring its plutonium plant within days after the United States removed the Communist nation from its list of states sponsoring terrorism.
The two nations also reached an agreement on verification measures. The agreement between Pyongyang and Washington came just days after North Korea cut off all access to the inspectors to its plutonium reprocessing plant in Yongbyon.
The lifting of ban would mean that the inspectors would resume their monitoring of Yongbyon plant which North Korea has also agreed to decommission.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the agreement, saying the accord will allow the six-party talks progress and related activities to resume. "This is another step towards a verifiable non-nuclear Korean peninsula," his spokesperson said.
"The Secretary-General urges all the participants of the talks to redouble their efforts to meet their respective obligations and to complete the 'disablement phase' as soon as possible," the statement said, referring to long-standing talks involving North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the US. "The Secretary-General remains fully supportive of this process."
When North Korea barred the inspectors, the Vienna based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had said they would remain in Yongbyon pending further information from Pyongyang.
Under an accord reached last year as part of the six-party talks process, North Korea had agreed to stop its disablement work and decommission Yongbyon.
With North Korea allowing access, the inspectors would now be able to reapply containment and surveillance measures at the site.
The two nations also reached an agreement on verification measures. The agreement between Pyongyang and Washington came just days after North Korea cut off all access to the inspectors to its plutonium reprocessing plant in Yongbyon.
The lifting of ban would mean that the inspectors would resume their monitoring of Yongbyon plant which North Korea has also agreed to decommission.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the agreement, saying the accord will allow the six-party talks progress and related activities to resume. "This is another step towards a verifiable non-nuclear Korean peninsula," his spokesperson said.
"The Secretary-General urges all the participants of the talks to redouble their efforts to meet their respective obligations and to complete the 'disablement phase' as soon as possible," the statement said, referring to long-standing talks involving North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the US. "The Secretary-General remains fully supportive of this process."
When North Korea barred the inspectors, the Vienna based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had said they would remain in Yongbyon pending further information from Pyongyang.
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Under an accord reached last year as part of the six-party talks process, North Korea had agreed to stop its disablement work and decommission Yongbyon.
With North Korea allowing access, the inspectors would now be able to reapply containment and surveillance measures at the site.
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