 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Nuclear inspectors barred from North Korean site: agency
Vienna (AFP) Oct 9, 2008 The UN nuclear watchdog's inspectors at North Korea's nuclear facilities at Yongbyon will no longer have access to the site's nuclear installations, the agency announced Thursday. "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has today informed IAEA inspectors that, effective immediately, access to facilities at Yongbyon would no longer be permitted," the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement. "They are no longer allowed to carry out the monitoring and verification of any nuclear activity whatsoever," IAEA spokesman Marc Vidricaire also told AFP. Pyongyang announced in September that it planned to restart its nuclear reprocessing plant at Yongbyon, used to make weapons-grade material, and that IAEA inspectors would have no further access to it. "Now they have no access to any nuclear installation whatsoever, although they can remain in their quarters at Yongbyon," Vidricaire added. "The DPRK also stated that it has stopped its disablement work," the IAEA added in its statement. Pyongyang's nuclear disablement was part of a six-party disarmament-for-aid deal with the United States, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan. "Since it is preparing to restart the facilities at Yongbyon, the DPRK has informed the IAEA that our monitoring activities would no longer be appropriate," the UN agency also noted. North Korea announced in August that it had halted the dismantling of key nuclear facilities in protest at Washington's refusal to drop it from the US blacklist of countries supporting terrorism, as had been promised in the six-party deal, agreed in February 2007. Japan's Kyodo News agency reported Thursday that Washington had told Tokyo that it would take North Korea off the blacklist in October, in a bid to jumpstart the deadlocked talks. Japan, which has tense relations with North Korea, told the United States it was unhappy with the decision, Kyodo added, without identifying its sources. Washington has pressed for more concrete ways to verify North Korea's declaration of its nuclear programmes made under the agreement. But Japan and some US conservatives have accused US President George W. Bush of giving up too much to North Korea in a bid to score a foreign policy success in his final days in office. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com All about missiles at SpaceWar.com Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
NKorea developing nuke warhead: Seoul official
Seoul (AFP) Oct 8, 2008North Korea is working to develop a nuclear warhead for a long-range missile, South Korea's top military officer said Wednesday, a day after the communist state tested its short-range weaponry. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook