ID :
23653
Fri, 10/10/2008 - 15:10
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/23653
The shortlink copeid
N. Korea bars IAEA inspectors from all facilities at Yongbyon
BERLIN, Oct. 9 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has barred access of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to its nuclear facilities at Yongbyon, the UN agency said Thursday.
The announcement said North Korea has officially notified IAEA inspectors that
they will not be given access to the nuclear facilities, effectively preventing
them from monitoring what is happening there.
It added that while inspectors were not allowed in, they were permitted to remain
in their residence within the atomic complex.
The IAEA confirmed that Pyongyang has halted efforts to disable its nuclear
facilities.
The agency then said that the latest move follows orders issued two weeks ago
that forbade inspectors from getting close to the reprocessing center, but did
not prevent them from entering other parts of the complex.
Yongbyon, located about 90 kilometers north of Pyongyang is home to the country's
5 megawatt graphite moderated reactor, plutonium reprocessing facilities and a
radiochemical laboratory.
North Korea has halted work to disable its key nuclear facility at Yongbyon and
threatened in late September to reactivate the reactor within a week, accusing
the United States of failing to live up to its end of a denuclearization deal.
Pyongyang had been disabling its nuclear facilities under a six-nation accord,
also signed by South Korea, Japan, China and Russia. The deal entitled Pyongyang
to receive 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil or equivalent assistance in addition
to other political benefits such as the normalization of ties with Washington and
Tokyo.
The U.S. had said it would remove the North from its list of state sponsors of
terrorism following Pyongyang's issuance of a nuclear declaration, but the
process stalled after the communist state rejected a verification proposal by
the U.S.
Related to the delisting of North Korea from the blacklist, Japan's Kyodo news
agency reported that Washington has informed Tokyo that it will take such a step
within the month.
The news outlet, however, did not cite a specific source.
(END)
The announcement said North Korea has officially notified IAEA inspectors that
they will not be given access to the nuclear facilities, effectively preventing
them from monitoring what is happening there.
It added that while inspectors were not allowed in, they were permitted to remain
in their residence within the atomic complex.
The IAEA confirmed that Pyongyang has halted efforts to disable its nuclear
facilities.
The agency then said that the latest move follows orders issued two weeks ago
that forbade inspectors from getting close to the reprocessing center, but did
not prevent them from entering other parts of the complex.
Yongbyon, located about 90 kilometers north of Pyongyang is home to the country's
5 megawatt graphite moderated reactor, plutonium reprocessing facilities and a
radiochemical laboratory.
North Korea has halted work to disable its key nuclear facility at Yongbyon and
threatened in late September to reactivate the reactor within a week, accusing
the United States of failing to live up to its end of a denuclearization deal.
Pyongyang had been disabling its nuclear facilities under a six-nation accord,
also signed by South Korea, Japan, China and Russia. The deal entitled Pyongyang
to receive 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil or equivalent assistance in addition
to other political benefits such as the normalization of ties with Washington and
Tokyo.
The U.S. had said it would remove the North from its list of state sponsors of
terrorism following Pyongyang's issuance of a nuclear declaration, but the
process stalled after the communist state rejected a verification proposal by
the U.S.
Related to the delisting of North Korea from the blacklist, Japan's Kyodo news
agency reported that Washington has informed Tokyo that it will take such a step
within the month.
The news outlet, however, did not cite a specific source.
(END)
