North Korea Watch: IAEA Inspectors Reach Nuclear Agreement

Olli Heinonen, left, deputy director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is interviewed by the media upon his arrival at a Pyongyang hotel on Friday June 29, 2009, following his visit to the Yongbyon nuclear complex. UN nuclear monitors said Friday they were able to see all the facilities they wanted on their visit to the plutonium-producing reactor that North Korea has pledged to shut down in return for aid.

U.N. inspectors, North Korea reach deal

The U.N. nuclear watchdog and North Korea have reached an agreement on how the agency will monitor and verify shutdown of the country’s main nuclear reactor, a top official said Friday.

A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency returned Friday to the North Korean capital from a two-day trip to the Yongbyon nuclear complex, broadcaster APTN reported.

It was the first IAEA visit to the facility since U.N. monitors were expelled from the country in 2002.

“We have concluded this understanding, what our monitoring and verification activities are in principle,” IAEA Deputy Director Olli Heinonen said in footage shot by APTN.

This may be one of President Bush’s and Condoleezza Rice’s biggest foreign policy accomplishments. Just a year ago, North Korea was testing a prototype ICBM and shooting it at Hawaii.

Now, North Korea is closing down its nuclear program and facilities.

But, the United States must TRUST BUT VERIFY.

Stay tuned……