The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Friday said IAEA representatives will visit North Korea on Tuesday. Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei said IAEA chief weapons inspector Olli Heinonen and three other delegates will stay in the North until June 30 and discuss in detail the shutdown of the nuclear facilities in Yongbyon.
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International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief weapons inspector Olli Heinonen briefs the media at Vienna's international airport June 24, 2007. Heinonen set out for North Korea on Sunday to agree details on the return of IAEA inspectors which will monitor Pyonyang's promised atomic shutdown./ REUTERS
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In an interview with the official (North) Korean Central News Agency, a spokesman of the North Korean Foreign Ministry on Saturday said Pyongyang agreed with U.S. chief nuclear envoy Christopher Hill to try to bring together the nuclear negotiators from six-nations in denuclearization talks in early July and the foreign ministers from the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia in early August. He added the U.S. and the North also discussed measures to strengthen cooperation in financial transactions.
Following Hill¡¯s overnight visit to North Korea last week, financial talks between U.S. official Daniel Glaser and the president of the Foreign Trade Bank of North Korea Oh Gwang-chul will resume.
A diplomatic source in Washington on Sunday said Pyongyang wants Glaser to guarantee free international financial transactions now North Korea¡¯s funds from the Macau-based Banco Delta Asia have been transferred. Glaser has met with Oh several times since their first discussion North Korea¡¯s then frozen funds in the Macau bank in Beijing last December. The U.S. says it is not in a position to guarantee an improvement in North Korea¡¯s sovereign credit rating but can give advice on ways for Pyongyang to join the international financial system.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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