Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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June 29, 2007

Nuclear Inspectors Praise N. Korea's Cooperation on Reactor Visit
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=17FBDE5:A6F02AD83191E160DA8C5C89F683B7329574F7DCC14957C0 Senior inspector
Olli Heinonen says North Korean authorities have been helpful There
are more indications that at least one key element of a broader effort
to end North Korea's nuclear weapons programs may soon be in place.
United Nations nuclear inspectors say they were given full access to a
North Korean reactor facility that may be shut down within weeks.
VOA's Kurt Achin reports from Seoul.

Delegates from the International Atomic Energy Agency say Thursday's
visit to North Korea's main nuclear facility was successful.





The head of the UN inspection team, Olli Heinonen, prior to his
departure for Pyongyang at International Airport in Beijing, 26 Jun
2007" hspace=2
src="/english/images/afp_IAEA_korea_inspections_Heinonen_29jun07_eng_195.jpg"
width=210 vspace=2 border=0>

The head of the UN inspection team, Olli Heinonen, prior to his
departure for Pyongyang at International Airport in Beijing, 26 Jun
2007Senior inspector Olli Heinonen, who is leading the IAEA team, says
North Korean authorities have been helpful.

"We visited all the places which we were planning to. The cooperation
was excellent," he said.

U.N. nuclear inspectors had not seen the Yongbyon facility first-hand
since North Korea ejected them from the country more than four years
ago.

Heinonen and his team are now in North Korea to negotiate the shutdown
as part of stepped-up six-nation diplomacy aimed at ending Pyongyang's
nuclear weapons capabilities. North Korea agreed to the shutdown at
the conclusion of February talks with China, Russia, Japan, the United
States and South Korea.

The final resolution of a banking dispute on Monday cleared North
Korea's objection to implementing the shutdown, as it had promised to
do by mid-April.

The IAEA delegation has one more day of meetings in North Korea before
returning Saturday to the agency's headquarters in Vienna. The team is
expected to deliver a report, including an outline of procedures for
shutting down the Yongbyon reactor, as early as next month.

In South Korea, authorities are preparing to do their part under the
February agreement. Seoul is working with major energy companies to
ship 50,000 tons of fuel oil to the North. Ships carrying the first
portion of an eventual 400,000 ton rice transfer to the impoverished
North are scheduled to depart on Saturday.


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