At its concluding session today, the IAEA General Conference adopted a resolution on the implementation of safeguards in the Democratic People´s Republic of Korea (DPRK, North Korea). More than 100 States met at the Conference in Vienna this week.
The resolution "calls upon the DPRK to cooperate promptly with the Agency in the full and effective implementation of IAEA safeguards and to resolve any outstanding issues that may have arisen due to the long absence of safeguards... and to comply fully with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons."
The resolution stresses the General Conference´s desire for a "peacful resolution through dialogue to the DPRK nuclear issue, leading to a nuclear-weapon-free Korean Peninsula, with a view to maintaining peace and security in the region."
IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei addressed the DPRK safeguards in his statement to the General Conference earlier this week. Excerpts from the statement: "Since the end of December 2002, when Agency verification activities were terminated at the request of the Democratic People´s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Agency has been unable to draw any conclusions regarding the DPRK´s nuclear activities. I continue to believe in the importance and urgency of finding a negotiated solution to the current situation. The Agency stands ready to work with the DPRK - and with all others - towards a solution that addresses the needs of the international community to ensure that all nuclear activities in the DPRK are exclusively for peaceful purposes, while addressing the security and other concerns of the DPRK."