U.N. Nuclear Watchdog Says It Received North Korea Invitation
The United Nations nuclear watchdog said on Monday it had received an invitation from North Korea to visit, three years after its inspectors were expelled from the reclusive Asian state for the second time.
The move appeared to be an attempt by North Korea to show it was serious about a nuclear moratorium deal with the United States last month, an accord which has been thrown into doubt by Pyongyang’s announcement on Friday of a planned rocket launch.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, a Vienna-based U.N. body tasked with preventing the spread of nuclear weapons in the world, said it received the invitation on March 16 but declined to give details regarding its content.
“We will discuss with the DPRK (North Korea) and other parties concerned for the details of the visit,” IAEA spokeswoman Gill Tudor said in an e-mailed statement.
“Details will be discussed. Nothing has been decided yet.”
In Washington, the State Department said that in principle it supported all efforts by the IAEA to gain access to North Korea to monitor Pyongyang’s implementation of all aspects of the February 29 nuclear agreement.
However, commenting on Japanese media reports before the IAEA’s official announcement, it repeated that it believed this deal had been undercut by the North Korean announcement last week of the planned satellite launch.
Under the February accord, Washington agreed to supply the North with food in exchange for a suspension of nuclear tests, missile launches and uranium enrichment and to allow IAEA inspectors back into the country.
But Pyongyang’s announcement - on same day the IAEA received its invitation - that it will launch a rocket carrying a satellite to mark the centenary of founder Kim Il-sung’s birth next month drew swift international condemnation.
The United States has said the North’s plan to launch a satellite could violate its February nuclear moratorium agreement and scuttle the resumption of U.S. food aid.