SEOUL, March 20 (UPI) -- North Korea has offered to return to the U.N. nuclear watchdog after taking initial disarmament steps, Seoul's news report said Tuesday.
Kim Kye Gwan, the North's chief nuclear negotiator, said his country will resume its membership in the International Atomic Energy Agency soon after it shuts down its nuclear facilities as agreed upon in the Feb. 13 accord, Yonhap News Agency said, quoting a South Korean official in Beijing. Kim was in Beijing for six-nation nuclear talks.
Pyongyang may rejoin the IAEA late this month or early next month, Yonhap said, citing a mid-April deadline when the North is due to shut its reactor in Yongbyon, north of Pyongyang.
Under the nuclear deal, the North promised to shut down and seal its plutonium-producing Yongbyon reactor and invite back U.N. nuclear inspectors within 60 days in return for energy aid, as part of the initial phase for dismantling its nuclear programs.
