VIENNA, Austria - The UN's nuclear watchdog agency said Monday it will send a team to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, next week to discuss how the agency's inspectors would verify the shutdown of Yongbyon nuclear reactor.
In a statement, the International Atomic Energy Agency said a team led by IAEA Deputy Director General for Safeguards Olli Heinonen would travel to Pyongyang in the week starting June 25.
North Korea had refused to move on its February pledge to shut down the Yongbyon reactor until it receives the funds frozen in Banco Delta Asia, which the U.S. said was used by Pyongyang's government to pass fake US$100 bills and launder money from weapons sales.
Claiming the financial freeze was a sign of Washington's hostility, North Korea boycotted the six-nation talks for more than a year, during which it conducted its first-ever atomic bomb test last October.
On Saturday, North Korea invited IAEA inspectors to visit as the transfer of the money to its accounts neared completion.
South Korea plans to start shipping 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil to North Korea by the time it shuts down its nuclear reactor, South Korean chief nuclear envoy Chun Yung-woo has said, adding preparations could begin in the coming weeks.
The North is to eventually receive further energy or other aid equivalent to 950,000 tons of heavy fuel oil in return for irreversibly disabling the reactor and declaring all nuclear programs.
