UN Nuclear Agency to Approve Inspections Plan for North Korea

The United Nations nuclear agency is set to approve an inspections plan for North Korea, a key step in turning the Korean Peninsula into an atomic weapons-free zone.

The International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-member board of governors convened an extraordinary meeting today in Vienna. The diplomats will approve the agency's budget and details of the inspection team's mission in North Korea.

``Following the board's approval, we hope that IAEA inspectors will be able to return quickly to North Korea,'' U.S. Ambassador to the IAEA Gregory Schulte said today in a briefing. ``The shutdown of the facilities at Yongbyon, together with IAEA monitoring and verification, will be an important step toward achieving the common goal of a Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons.''

The government in Pyongyang agreed Feb. 13 with the U.S., South Korea, Russia, China and Japan to close its Yongbyon reactor, where it processed weapons-grade plutonium, in return for heavy fuel oil from South Korea. In June, IAEA diplomats visited North Korea for the first time since 2002, when North Korea ejected inspectors and left the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Kim Jong Il's regime may shut down Pyongyang and renew formal inspections as early as mid-July, a South Korean government official said July 3 in Seoul.

North Korea has extracted plutonium from the plant's spent fuel rods and on Oct. 9 tested its first nuclear device, prompting UN Security Council sanctions.

The U.S. administration, as part of efforts to lessen tensions in the peninsula, is examining ways to find a formal peace settlement to the 1950-53 Korean War, the Wall Street Journal said, citing unidentified officials.

The officials said they hope to start talks with North Korea after the year ends, the Journal reported.

The officials said a permanent regional security framework may provide a means to resolve disputes and maintain a U.S. presence in the region, the Journal said.