The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) formally informed the
inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) yesterday that their
access to facilities at Yongbyon would no longer be permitted, IAEA confirmed in
a statement.
The DPRK has also stated it has stopped its disablement work, which was
initially agreed upon within the Six-Party Talks, IAEA spokesperson Marc
Vidricaire said in the statement.
He also said that since it is "preparing to restart the facilities at
Yongbyon," the DPRK has informed the IAEA that "our monitoring activities would
no longer be appropriate."
The IAEA statement also noted that IAEA inspectors will remain in Yongbyon
pending further information by the DPRK.
The DPRK government had already blockaded Yongbyon's plutonium-producing
plant two weeks ago, permitting international inspectors no access to the
facilities.
According to a document reached in the Six Party Talks on DPRK's nuclear
issue last October, the DPRK submitted a declaration about its nuclear
activities this June and blew down the nuclear cooling tower in Yongbyon, but
the United States has not taken any substantial steps in removing DPRK from the
US list of "state sponsors of terrorism" as promised.