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The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed El-Baradei says the threat posed by North Korea's nuclear weapons program is worsening and needs to be resolved as soon as possible.
In an interview with Reuters News Agency, El-Baradei said he hopes the issue could be resolved by the end of this year.
El-Baradei said a team of IAEA inspectors might return to North Korea in 2005 to conduct rigorous inspections that can provide guarantees to the world that all North Korean nuclear facilities and activities meet U.N. safeguards.
North Korea kicked out nuclear inspectors in late 2002 as a rift with the United States deepened. IAEA officials have not been allowed to return since.
El-Baradei also expressed his hopes of achieving a set of agreements that could ensure North Korea's nuclear weapons activities are dismantled irreversibly and visibly to the international community. In return, other countries could address North Korea's security concerns as well as the country's humanitarian needs.
Since 2002, North Korea has been locked in a standoff with its regional neighbors and the United States over its nuclear weapons program. North Korea has refused to return to six-party talks aimed at peacefully resolving the nuclear standoff unless Washington drops its so-called "hostile policy" towards Pyongyang.
Arirang TV
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