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IAEA chief hopes progress will lead DPR of Korea to cooperate on nuclear issues
6 November -- The Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today expressed hope that recent positive developments on the Korean Peninsula would lead Pyongyang to cooperate with the agency on nuclear matters.

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly, Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei said the Agency remained unable to verify that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) had declared all of the nuclear material it possessed as required under safeguards agreements. Those agreements mandate the IAEA to verify that nuclear materials and facilities are used only for peaceful purposes.

"To fully assess the accuracy of the DPRK's initial safeguards declaration will require a series of agency activities with full DPRK cooperation," Mr. ElBaradei said. He noted that "those activities should begin immediately" given the fact that the verification process was likely to take three to four years to complete.

Mr. ElBaradei also reported to the Assembly, as he had previously in written reports to the Security Council, on the status of Baghdad's cooperation with the IAEA. Since December 1998, the agency has been unable to work in Iraq as required under various Security Council resolutions stemming from the country's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, he noted. "As a result, we cannot at present provide any assurance that Iraq is in compliance with those resolutions," the Director-General said. He added that Baghdad had cooperated with the IAEA under the safeguards agreements.

"The agency must return to Iraq if we are to provide the enhanced assurances sought by the Council," Mr. ElBaradei stressed. "We continue to maintain an operational plan and the capability that would allow us to resume our activities on short notice."

Reviewing a range of other nuclear-related issues, the IAEA chief emphasized the importance of safely managing spent fuel and radioactive waste. "While experts are confident that geological disposal is safe, technologically feasible and environmental responsible, the public at large remains skeptical, and the volume of high-level waste continues to build," he warned. The Agency was keeping the focus on the waste issue in order to accelerate progress towards demonstrated solutions, he said.