IAEA, S. Korea to discuss N. Korea issues

SEOUL, May 11 (UPI) -- A U.N. nuclear inspector and South Korean nuclear officials will discuss the North Korean nuclear crisis, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Monday.

Olli Heinonen, the International Atomic Energy Agency's deputy director general for safeguards, plans to meet with officials at South Korea's foreign ministry, science and technology ministry and the president's office Tuesday and Wednesday, the South Korean new agency Yonhap reported. Heinonen's five-day visit also includes a regional forum on IAEA accords.

Talks to denuclearize the Korean peninsula reached a standstill after North Korea walked away from the table and said it would place its nuclear facility back in operation to protest the U.N. Security Council's condemnation of Pyongyang's April 5 rocket launch.