13/12/2002

DPR Of Korea Informs IAEA Of Intent To Lift 'Freeze' On Nuclear Power Plants

North Korea announced this week that it was "immediately" reactivating its nuclear program to produce electricity. That program was frozen in 1994 as part of the agreement of October 21, 1994, with the United States.

The reactivation of the nuclear program, if it should indeed occur, would be in complete violation of the commitments made by North Korea in 1994.

In a letter to IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, the Director General of the DPRK's General Department of Atomic Energy, Ri Je Son, requested that the Agency remove the seals and monitoring cameras on all of its nuclear facilities. The safeguards have been in place since the DPRK-USA Agreed Framework signed in 1994.

In response Mr. ElBaradei called on the DPRK to act "with restraint," and warned, "it is essential that the containment and surveillance measures which are currently in place continue to be maintained, and that the DPRK not take any steps unilaterally to remove or impede the functioning of such seals or cameras."

Mr. ElBaradei also asked the DPRK to agree to an urgent meeting of technical experts to discuss the practical arrangements involved in moving from the freeze to normal safeguards operations, and how the IAEA will fulfil its verification requirements under an agreement between Pyongyang and the Agency.

As the Board of Governors of the IAEA noted in its resolution of November 29, it is essential for North Korea to comply with its safeguards agreement with the IAEA and its obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.