N. Korea asks IAEA to remove seals on Yongbyon reactor: report

SEOUL, Sept. 22 (Yonhap) -- North Korea asked the U.N. nuclear watchdog on Monday to remove seals and surveillance cameras at a nuclear reprocessing facility in Yongbyon, the agency's chief was quoted as saying by a foreign news agency.

"This morning, (North Korea) asked the agency's inspectors to remove seals and
surveillance equipment to enable them to carry out tests at the reprocessing
plant, which they say will not involve nuclear material," International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) Director Mohamed ElBaradei said, according to Reuters.
His comments at a meeting of the IAEA board of governors in Vienna, if confirmed,
would suggest that the secretive nation is ready to restart the Yongbyon reactor
after halting work to disable it.
South Korean government officials said they were trying to check the media report.
"It seems to be true that North Korea asked the IAEA to remove the seals," a
senior Foreign Ministry official said on condition of anonymity. "But we are
trying to confirm whether seals have actually been removed."
Reuters quoted an unidentified ranking diplomat as saying that seals have already
been eliminated.