Seals and surveillance equipment set by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have been removed from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s reprocessing plant in Yongbyon, IAEA spokesperson Mellissa Fleming said in Vienna on Wednesday.
This indicates that DPRK's nuclear facility will no longer be under IAEA's supervision.
IAEA diplomats noted that the IAEA inspectors have removed about 100 seals and over 20 cameras from Yongbyon's nuclear facility as required by DPRK government.
The "IAEA inspectors will have no further access to the reprocessing plant" in Yongbyon now, Fleming confirmed Wednesday.
The DPRK said that it has stopped disabling its nuclear reactor in Yongbyon on August 26. The Foreign Ministry of the country announced on September 19 that it is working to restart its nuclear facility in Yongbyon according to the "action for action principle".
The IAEA General Director Mohammed ElBaradei confirmed in Vienna on Monday that the DPRK has required IAEA inspectors to remove seals and surveillance equipment from related 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.
The diplomats and media in Vienna pointed out that DPRK reactivates its nuclear facility so as to show its dissatisfaction that the United States has no intention to keep its promise and takes counter measures according to the "action for action principle".
Some countries including the United States have shown disappointment and concern about DPRK's movement. A European diplomat pointed out that it is not a piece of good news in view of non-proliferation, but he "would rather consider this as a tactics action" and "at present it is important to understand the DPRK."
(Xinhua News Agency September 25, 2008)
