N. Korea Offers Peek at Nuclear Effort
North Korea on Thursday offered the world a look at key evidence in a dispute over its alleged secret atomic bomb project, inviting U.N. experts to watch as its main nuclear reactor is refueled.
International Atomic Energy Agency spokesman David Kyd said inspection of the Yongbyon reactor’s exhausted fuel core is vital to try to clear up allegations that Pyongyang is developing nuclear weapons.
He said the U.N. agency responded positively to the new North Korean offer and, provided other elements of a fresh IAEA inspection could be agreed upon, a new expert mission would leave for Yongbyon next week.
The presence of inspectors is necessary “to verify that there has been no diversion of nuclear materials,” Kyd said. He cautioned that final, complete details of the new offer still must be settled.
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