Today, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Muhammad ElBaradei, concludes his visit to Pyongyang. Yesterday, he urged the leadership of the DPRK to quickly resume membership in the IAEA, interrupted in December 2002, and allow agency inspectors to verify the closure of the nuclear reactor in Yongbyon, which is provided for by the agreement reached on February 13 at negotiations in Beijing with the participation of the two Koreas, China, Russia, and the United States and Japan. Today in Beijing, meetings of three of the five working groups created as part of the Six negotiations open - on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the creation of a mechanism for ensuring peace and security in Northeast Asia, and providing economic and energy assistance to North Korea. Pyongyang will begin to receive it in exchange for freezing and subsequently rendering its nuclear facilities inoperative. The United States considers it realistic to resolve the issue with Yenben on schedule, that is, by mid-April. Today in Beijing, ElBaradei is expected by Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, head of the US delegation to the six-party talks. Their next round will begin in the Chinese capital on March 19.
