IAEA chief urges renewed engagement with North Korea on nuclear safety

ISTANBUL

The international community should make efforts to reengage North Korea on nuclear safety, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has stated.

"We should try to strive for a reestablishment of some engagement, some presence by the IAEA in the country," Rafael Grossi told reporters in Tokyo on Thursday.

Responding to questions about North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, he noted that the last IAEA activity in the country a "was long time ago" in 2009.

Grossi said he had discussed the issue with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who recently raised it with US President Donald Trump during a meeting in Washington.

"There are areas like nuclear safety where we could try to establish some form of engagement," he said, highlighting Japan’s "indispensable" role and stressing that "China’s role is going to be very, very important as well."

Grossi’s visit to Japan included an inspection of the release of treated nuclear waste from the Fukushima nuclear plant alongside experts from China, Switzerland, South Korea, and Japan.

Acknowledging the complexities of denuclearization, Grossi remarked that "denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is easier said than done," while referencing binding UN resolutions against North Korea’s nuclear assets.

North Korea has been under sweeping UN arms embargoes since 2006 due to its nuclear program, with sanctions repeatedly tightened to restrict nearly all arms imports and exports.

A UN committee was set up in 2006 to monitor sanctions enforcement, but its mandate expired last year after Russia vetoed its extension.

Last September, North Korea publicly disclosed a uranium enrichment facility for the first time, as leader Kim Jong Un called for expanding the country’s nuclear capabilities.

In 2010, North Korea allowed US nuclear expert Siegfried Hecker to tour its uranium enrichment facility in Yongbyon, located in the northwestern Pyongan province.

The site is home to the Yongbyon Nuclear Science and Weapons Research Center, which operates the country’s first nuclear reactors.