UN nuclear watchdog set for talks with North Koreans

THE head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog will meet the North Korean government next month to discuss the shutdown of the secretive communist state's nuclear programme and bring the country back under UN supervision.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, (IAEA) said he had received an invitation from Pyongyang yesterday, after a deal last week to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear site and allow UN inspectors into the country.

"The first [issue] of course is how to develop a plan to freeze the Yongbyon facilities, and more importantly to make sure that they come back as a fully-fledged member of the agency," Mr ElBaradei said in Vienna.

"I very much welcome this opportunity," Mr ElBaradei said in a joint briefing with Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general.

A spokeswoman for the IAEA added that Mr ElBaradei planned to visit after a board meeting in March.

The apparent progress of the plan to dismantle Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions came just a day after Mr ElBaradei said in a report to the UN Security Council that Iran was still defying UN demands to suspend its nuclear enrichment programme.

Mr Ban said that Iran should take a cue from North Korea and return to dialogue with the international community.