North Korea Ratifies Nuclear Plant Accord

North Korea, after months of suspense, formally approved an accord Thursday paving the way for international inspection of its secret nuclear plants.

Pyongyang’s rubber-stamp Parliament approved ratification of the nuclear safeguards accord signed in January by North Korea and the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, the official Korean Central News Agency said.

The agency, monitored in Tokyo, gave no indication of when the accord would take effect. Under IAEA regulations, North Korea must accept nuclear inspection by outside experts within 90 days after the pact is ratified.

North and South Korea, still technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean conflict, have held a series of border talks on bilateral inspections of suspected nuclear facilities in each other’s territory but have failed to make any progress with the north refusing to present a timetable for such inspections.